Bittersweet Rhapsody
by Dark Lady Misa
Summary: Takes place 6 months after The Real Folk Blues Part II. Faye and Jet are still trying to come to terms with what happened that day. Things have settled into a more or less normal routine, when Ed and Ein suddenly return. And that's just the beginning...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimers: I am just a loyal fan; I do not own anything in the world of Cowboy Bebop. All CB characters belong to their original creators, and Sunrise, etc. All original fanfic characters, however, belong completely to me. "Bittersweet Rhapsody" takes place after the last episode of the series, and contains a number of spoilers, so read at your own risk if you haven't seen the ending!**

**Bittersweet Rhapsody**

**Part I**

"Mars. Isn't this where you said you were born, Spike? Hmmm. I wonder what it was like here back then. From what I've seen of this planet today, you were probably happy as a boy, if it was the same. It looks like a beautiful planet to grow up on. Just like my home planet, Earth was when I was a little girl. Before the Gate accident and the asteroids wrecked it. I guess there's something we have in common. We both had happy enough childhoods, and our lives just... fell apart when we became adults." Faye Valentine thought sadly, staring at the intense red and gold sunset.

She shook her head, pulled a cigarette out from the pack in her red jacket, lit it and muttered, "Why do sunsets always make people think of pointless memories like this? Earth has been a big disaster area for years and years. Most people probably don't even remember it ever being anything else. There's no point in longing for or even thinking about a place that doesn't really exist anymore. And the Earth I knew doesn't. Besides, just because a person grew up somewhere that's pretty to look at, it doesn't necessarily mean they were happy there. Foolish thoughts. I seem to be having a lot of those lately." The wind picked up a little, blowing Faye's hair back and putting out her cigarette.

She dug out her lighter, re-lit the cigarette, and, before bringing it back to her lips, whispered, "This one's for you, Spike."

Standing by the Bebop a small distance away, Jet was watching Faye and unhappily thinking, "What is that woman _doing_? She's just been standing there, staring at the sun, for almost ten minutes now. If I want to get off this planet any time soon, I guess I'd better go tell her that I'm not going to wait around for her forever."

"Hey, what the hell is the big idea! It's bad enough you're takin' me to jail. How come I gotta wait around all day first? What kinda crap is this!" complained a gruff voice from inside the ship.

"Hold your horses. Believe me, I can't wait to turn you over to the authorities, get my money and never have to see your ugly face again. Gimme a minute to get my partner, and we'll be on our way." Jet replied.

"Hmmmphh. Never catch me waitin' around for no skirt, much less takin' orders from one. Must be a real pain. Heh heh. Hope she makes it up to ya at night. She sure looks like she must." the man inside the ship snickered.

"**_Whaatt! _**You think... Me and **_Faye! _**You shut your mouth, you lousy punk!" Jet yelled, taken aback by the crook's suggestion.

Stomping away, he grumbled, "That does it! The sooner we're done with _this _bounty head, the better! If Faye wants to stay here and stare at the sky, fine. But **I'm **leaving!"

Unbeknownst to either Jet or Faye, nearby, Edward was running as quickly as she could, shouting, "Come on, Ein! Ed sees it! Ed sees Bebop! Come on! We have to hurry, hurry, before they leave without us!" Ein gave a short bark in response, panting a little as he raced to keep up with Ed.

"Almost there!" Edward gasped happily, seeing the spaceship appear to grow larger and larger as she and Ein got closer to it.

"Yippee! Whoa! Aaahh! Oof! Yay! Ed did it! Whoo!" Ed cheered as she and her canine companion reached their destination. In celebration, Ed jumped on the Bebop, and, after slipping, sliding, and nearly falling off several times, finally managed to climb to the top. Once there, she immediately flopped down on her back. Ein barked excitedly, jumping up and down.

"Ohh, that's right. Ein can't climb up the way Edward did. But don't worry. I'll find a way for us to get in. Hmmm. Ed remembers a door up here somewhere. Ed will find it, then get inside and let you in through the main hatch." Ed said, climbing onto her hands and knees and beginning to feel around for a door. She hummed as she searched.

"Hey! **Now **what's goin' on? Who's up there!" demanded the crook locked inside.

"Huh? Ed doesn't recognize that voice. It's not Spike or Jet person. Hmmm. Faye-Faye, is that you? Are you sick?" Edward puzzled, knocking on the roof of the ship and pressing her right ear against it.

"Get lost, kid!" came the response. Ein growled at the unfamiliar, unfriendly voice.

"Oh. Not her either, I guess. Do you think they got someone new to replace Edward?" Ed suggested, sitting up and looking a little confused.

Then she gasped and said, "Or maybe it's a terrrible intruder! Don't worry, everyone. Edward is coming to save you!" She felt around a little more, and, upon finding an indentation at last, immediately began struggling to open the door she'd found. Ein kept barking. The man inside the Bebop continued to yell and complain.

Jet Black was now standing behind Faye, telling her, "It's time to go. That creep's getting mouthier by the minute. Let's get out of here so we can turn him over to the authorities and get our reward. Come on, Faye." There was no answer. Faye kept her eyes on the sun as it continued to go down and the sky became darker and darker. She didn't even notice Jet at all.

He placed his hand on her left shoulder, shook her lightly and said, "Come on. You can finish your cigarette and your daydream back on the ship." Still no response. Jet sighed.

"You haven't heard a single word I've said, have you?"

"What? Oh, sorry. I... guess I haven't been listening. What did you say, Jet?" Faye asked, turning to face Jet, but still not seeming very interested in whatever he was going to tell her.

"I said I want to get off this planet so we can turn that bigmouth bounty head of ours in and get our money." Jet explained.

"I don't know what your hurry is, Jet. He's only a small-time robber. The reward is barely over 2,000 woolongs. And I've read the guy's file. He's not particularly violent _or _smart. Seeing how you've got him tied up, I seriously doubt he'll escape." Faye said, starting to turn back to the sinking sun. She took a few short puffs on her cigarette, then just held it.

"Hmmmphh. You'd know what my hurry is if you'd spent the last hour listening to that jerk mouth off. And I know the reward isn't much, but it's more than we have now. You feel like eating nothing but bean sprouts for **another **week?"

"Hmm. It's a wonder we still have such a problem keeping food around, even now that it's just the two of us. I guess we've been earning even less money lately than I'd realized." Faye commented absently, still not a bit interested in the discussion.

"Oh, now I get it. You're lonely. What is it? You miss having another girl around?" Jet suggested, placing his right hand on the back of his bald head.

"You think I miss **_Ed?_** Please, Jet. I'm a grown woman. Ed's what, thirteen? If that. We weren't exactly best friends, you know? Though I suppose we might have been a little closer, if Ed had any interest in clothes or guys like a normal girl her age, instead of just computers and stuffing her face." Faye scoffed, shaking her head. The wind lifted her hair again.

After staring silently at the back of Faye's head for a moment, Jet lowered his hands to his sides and said, "I suspected as much. Your real problem is that you've been thinking about Spike again, haven't you?"

The lit end of Faye's shrinking cigarette glowed against the increasingly dark sky as she whispered, "Maybe. It's not a big deal. I mean, he did come from Mars originally. And, it's the first time we've been back here without him. So it's only natural that I'd think of him today." Her expression was sad because of her thoughts, but also a little surprised because she hadn't expected Jet to know what was going through her mind.

"I know it's hard to accept, but you have to face it some time, Faye. It's been almost half a year. If he were coming back, he would have by now. Spike is dead." Jet sighed heavily, reaching out to touch Faye's shoulder.

She pulled away, letting her cigarette butt fall to the ground, and answered, "You think I don't know that? Ha. That first night that Spike didn't come back, I knew he never would. He was a fool, going back to the syndicate. He should've known he'd never make it out alive. What did he hope to accomplish, anyway? His old mentor, the Elders, Julia... All of them were already dead, Jet! It's not like there was a **_thing _**he could have done for any of them. What was the point of going back there?" By this point, Faye's hands were clenched into tight fists and she was forcing back tears.

"Spike felt that he had to face his past and all that had happened, all that he had lost. Going back there and confronting Vicious one last time was the only way for him to do that. Even knowing the risks, I'm sure that in Spike's mind, there was no other option."

"Hmmphh. I suppose you could be right. But tell me something, Jet. Do you think it's possible that he went back there because... he wanted to die? So he'd be with his Julia again?" Faye suggested, barely able to get the words out. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

"I don't know. There must have been something really special between those two, that was obvious. But I'm not sure I buy the idea that Spike would just let himself be killed so he could join Julia in death. Though I can't rule out the possibility." Jet replied, shaking his head. For a moment, neither he or Faye spoke.

Then, crushing the cigarette butt on the ground with her right foot, Faye sighed and said, "The past is the past. Nothing we say or do can change it. The best thing to do is to forget about it and just go on with our own lives. Come on, Jet. Let's go." She brushed away a single tear, then began walking quickly back towards the spaceship.

Jet stared after her briefly, thinking, "Well, I'll be. I never would have believed that Faye actually cared about him. I wonder if _she _even realized before it was too late." Shaking away these thoughts, he followed Faye.

Meanwhile, Edward, happily shouting, "Hurray! Ed opened Mr. Door!" had just managed to pry open the door on the roof of the Bebop. Immediately, she jumped inside, landing on the crook and knocking him to the floor.

"What the hell! What kinda stupid game _is _this! First ya tie me up and leave me here, now you drop some weird kid on me! I'm startin' to think prison'd be a swell alternative to you freaks!" the man bellowed, forcing the chair he was tied to back onto its feet. He was about Faye's age, with short, spiky blond hair, big, dark blue sunglasses, and a nose ring in each nostril.

"No one dropped Edward on you. Edward jumped. Why are you tied up? Is this part of the game? Can Ed play, too?" Ed said impatiently, getting onto her knees on the floor and studying the stranger. Outside, Ein's barking grew louder.

"I ain't playin' no game, kid!" the robber growled.

"You're lying. When Ed jumped down, you asked, 'What kind of stupid game is this?' Liar, liar!" Edward argued. When she repeated the man's words, she tried to imitate his deep, rough voice. The rest of her little speech was in a singsong voice. The bounty head groaned.

Outside, Jet and Faye were approaching. Seeing them, Ein became distracted from barking at the strange voice, ran to the two of them, and stood up on Jet, wagging his little tail and giving short, happy barks.

"Huh? _Ein! _How'd he get here? Wait, maybe it's not Ein, just another dog that looks like him. Whatta you think? I mean, Ein's not exactly a rare breed." Faye said, more than a little startled to see the dog.

"I know. There are plenty of Welsh Corgis you could never tell apart from Ein by appearance alone. But this one's definitely him. Look, here's his name tag and everything." Jet replied, pointing to the little tag with Ein's name on it.

Then, petting the little dog's brown and white head, he said, "Welcome back, Ein. You miss us? It sure is good to have you back, boy. Where have you been all this time, huh?" Ein gave Jet a few more happy barks in response. Watching Jet and Ein, Faye smiled a little in spite of herself. Then, she noticed that the door on the roof of the ship was open.

"Finish your reunion later! Look!" she ordered, pointing with one hand and grabbing Jet with the other.

"Huh? Arrgghh! Don't tell me that loser got free somehow!" Jet yelled.

"Come on! We have to go check it out!" Faye shouted, opening the main hatch and charging inside. Jet and Ein followed closely. What they found was certainly a surprise for Jet and Faye. Their bounty head was still right where he belonged, and still tied to a chair. And, kneeling in front of him and making faces, there was Edward.

**_"Ed!" _**the two stunned bounty hunters exclaimed, barely believing their eyes.

"Jet! Faye! Edward is ba-aack!" Ed announced, running over to the other two and hugging them.

"Ouch! Not so tight, Ed! You're stronger than you look, you know. It's nice to see you again, too... I guess, but could you ease up a little?" Faye protested as Ed squeezed her waist tightly.

"Oops. Sorry, Faye-Faye. Ed will try to be more careful." Ed apologized, loosening her grip a little, then backing away from Faye and twirling around. The whole time, she had a huge smile on her face.

"Hello! I'm still here, ya know! This is very touching and all, but I don't wanna **hear **this crap anymore!" the bounty head complained, thumping his chair around.

"Ick. Who is that? If it's Edward's replacement, Ed thinks you were much better off with her." Edward commented, frowning at the man.

"Relax, Ed. He's no replacement. This punk happens to be our latest catch. In fact, we're just about to drop him off with the cops on Jupiter and collect a 2,100 woolong reward." Jet explained.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, why don't ya?" the man grumbled, sounding bitter and sarcastic. Everyone ignored him.

"Hmmmm. 2,100. That's really not much." Edward said thoughtfully, putting one finger on her chin and looking at the floor.

"Hey, give us a break! With Big Shot off the air and you not here to track leads in cyberspace, it's not easy to find criminals with big bounties on their heads! It's not our fault that small time little nobodies like this are all we've come across lately." Faye snapped, insulted by Ed's remark.

"Sorry. Ed didn't mean to offend you guys." Ed apologized with a shrug.

Faye opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a word out, Edward, looking up hopefully at Jet, was asking, "Edward was just wondering... Do you think we have enough money to have a party?"

"A, a party? Well, I guess we should do something to celebrate the return of you and Ein. But I don't know if we can..." Jet said, scratching his beard as he considered Ed's idea.

"Pleeaeessee?" Ed begged, still staring up at Jet with that hopeful look in her shiny amber eyes. Jet looked up at the ceiling with a half sigh, half groan.

A few hours later, Ed was busily trying to put a blue party hat on Ein's head. She had two hats on her own: one with purple and fluorescent yellow stripes, the other neon green with pink and blue spots.

"Just how long is she gonna keep trying to get that stupid hat on Ein?" asked Faye, who was half sitting, half laying on the couch, holding an empty glass. Of course, Ed had made her wear a hat, too. Hers had stripes in two shades of pink, and the top and bottom of it were trimmed in silver tinsel. Jet's hat was purple.

"I'd say she'll keep it up until she either gets Ein to wear the hat or gets distracted by something else. Knowing Ed, it could take another few seconds for her to get distracted, or it could take the rest of the night." Jet answered, watching Edward as she continued trying to get Ein to wear the hat.

"Yay! There you go, Ein. Now you're all dressed up for the party, too!" Ed declared happily, giggling and falling on her rearend as she finally succeeded in putting the blue hat on Ein's head. The dog whimpered a bit and began turning his head from side to side, trying to see what was on top of it.

"Ed is hungry! Isn't it time to eat _yet?_" Edward complained suddenly as she pulled herself off the floor.

"Dinner will be ready soon. If you can't wait until then, go eat some more of that snack stuff you talked me into letting you buy." Jet instructed.

"Mmmm... Ed can't do that." Ed said coyly, looking at the floor and blushing a little.

"And why is that? Don't tell me that after we spent all that money on all those different kinds of junk food, you don't even _like _any of it." Jet replied impatiently, folding his arms.

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. No, no. Ed can't go eat more snacks because they're all gone. No more snacks _to _eat." Edward explained, smiling at the others and starting to laugh.

"Whoa! You mean you ate all that food by yourself!" Faye asked, sitting up straight.

"Nah. You guys helped Ed eat some of it." Ed disagreed, shaking her head.

"I don't know how much Ein or Jet took, but I only ate a handful of chips and half a candied apple."

"Well, that still means that Ed didn't eat **everything**." Edward replied, a big, goofy smile spreading across her face. Ein walked over to Jet, dish in mouth, and stared at him, waiting.

"I guess you're trying to tell me that you're hungry, too. Nobody around here is too subtle about that, are they? Well, it'll be dinnertime soon. In the meantime, I seem to recall buying you some dog biscuits today. Ed, you didn't eat those, too, did you?" Jet said, petting Ein and giving Ed a suspicious look.

"Uh-uh. Ed took a bite of one, just to see why Ein likes them so much. Blah! Ewwww! Yucky!" She shook her head, making terrible faces at the memory of tasting the dog biscuit. She quickly handed the box to Jet, who took out a handful and placed them in front of Ein. The small dog happily began to eat.

"You know, I guess I could understand you still being hungry, even after eating all that junk food. Because you're still growing and all. But honestly, Ed, why would even you try to eat a dog biscuit?" Faye said, tracing the rim of her glass with one finger.

"Hmmm. Don't know." Ed laughed again.

Then, she exclaimed, "Edward almost forgot!", ran behind the couch, and held up a big box triumphantly.

"Oh, right. I forgot, too. Along with all the food, Ed talked me into letting her buy about a million streamers and balloons." Jet explained, rolling his eyes a little.

"Don't forget about the sparkly glittery stuff!" Ed said, sitting on the floor with her box and beginning to dig through it. She grabbed a balloon that needed to be blown up and began trying to inflate it.

"If you ever become a father, Jet, your kids are gonna be spoiled rotten. For weeks, I've been hearing nothing from you except how broke we are, how we have to watch every single woolong we have. But look at all Ed conned you into spending today, just by giving you a few pouty looks. Hmmmm. You act like such a big tough guy, but when push comes to shove, you're really softhearted." Faye commented.

"Well, when it comes to being spoiled rotten, you're certainly an expert on the subject. Lighten up, Faye. I know Ed's party is pretty silly, but since you won't give me a hand with dinner, you could at least help her out with those decorations." Jet responded, glancing towards Ed and her box.

"I guess maybe I haven't drunk enough to be in much of a party mood yet. Think you can help me out with that, Jet?" Faye said with a chuckle, stretching a little and holding out her glass. Jet frowned at Faye, but picked up a half empty bottle of dark liquor and refilled her glass anyway.

"Now that's more like it." Faye sank back against the couch and took a long sip of her drink.

Jet was about to say something, but before he could, Ed started yelling, "Stupid balloon! Why won't you blow up?"

After briefly studying Ed and her struggle with the balloon, Jet walked over to her and explained, "Ed, you're having trouble with this because you're trying to blow up the wrong end."

"But Edward tried the other end first! It didn't work, either!" Ed pouted.

"You must not have blown hard enough. Here. Give me that." Jet said, taking the blue balloon from Edward. After realizing that it was covered in her teeth marks and spit, he dropped it on the floor and pulled a fresh balloon from the box.

"Now, watch carefully. You open this end up a little and blow into it like this." Jet instructed. He took a deep breath, then exhaled into the balloon. Once it was fully inflated, he continued, "And now you have to hurry up and tie the end so all the air doesn't come right back out. There. You see, Ed?" Ed examined the round balloon being held in front of her and nodded. She reached into the box, pulled out a red balloon, took a deep breath, and blew into it. It didn't get as big as the one Jet had blown up, but it certainly came out much better than Ed's first attempt. Determined not to let the balloon get the better of her, she huffed and puffed into it a few more times. Soon, the balloon was round and large, fully inflated.

"Everybody look!" she exclaimed, proudly holding it up.

"Bravo, Ed. Bravo." Faye congratulated her, briefly putting down her glass to clap a little.

"And now, to trap all the air inside!" Edward said, completely unaware of Faye's lack of enthusiasm. She began trying to tie the end of the balloon. This didn't go very well. Part of it slipped through her fingers, and the red balloon flew around the room, losing all its air.

"Hey, no fair! Come back!" Ed cried, chasing after it.

"That's it. I have to get back to the kitchen before everything burns. You two have another crisis, like you having all your decorations run away from you, or _you _running out of booze again, you'll either have to handle it on your own or help each other." Jet grumbled, going back into the kitchen. Faye scowled at him, but Ed was too caught up in her balloon chase to notice anything else. Finally, completely deflated again, the red balloon landed in front of Ein, who sniffed it curiously.

"Ohhh!" Ed moaned, staring unhappily at what had happened. She recovered from her disappointment quickly, though, proceeding to grab the balloon and begin re-inflating it. It wasn't long before it was filled with air again.

"Careful... Careful..." Ed told herself as she tried to tie the balloon again. This time, she succeeded.

"Aha! Yay!" she cheered, holding up her accomplishment for a moment before letting it float up to the ceiling. She then dived for her box and began working on another one. Ein, who had finished his dog biscuits, watched as Ed blew up balloons. Soon, seven more had joined the first one: two blue, one pink, one purple, a yellow, a green, and another red.

As Ed began to tie a yellow balloon she'd just finished blowing up, she happened to look at Faye and thought, "Huh? It's not like Faye-Faye to be so quiet. She looks kind of sad about something. Maybe she had a fight with Jet? Uh-uh. Faye-Faye wouldn't be sad about that. Whatever it is, Ed will cheer her up." She got up, tiptoed over to the couch, and tapped Faye with the yellow balloon. Actually, she sort of tossed it at her. Faye ignored Ed.

"Faye-Faye? What's wrong?" Edward asked quietly, grabbing onto the balloon before it could float away.

"Huh? What makes you think there's something wrong, Ed?" Faye replied, looking up at Ed and raising one eyebrow.

"You seem too quiet. And you're just sitting and drinking all by yourself. We're supposed to be having a party, remember? Oh, but you don't look like you're having any fun at all." Ed looked at Faye with concern as she flopped down next to her, hugging the balloon.

"Actually, Ed, just sitting and drinking is the way grown-ups usually have fun at parties. You'll understand when you're older." Faye replied, pushing an ice cube around her glass with one finger.

"Sounds kind of boring to Ed." Ed commented, letting her balloon float to just above her head. She then slid down onto her back a little, raised her right leg above her head, and caught the end of the balloon between her toes. Faye laughed, then took another gulp of her drink.

"Ed made you laugh." Ed said in a teasing voice, holding the balloon over Faye's head. She was obviously very pleased with that success.

"Yeah, I guess you did. You gonna leave me alone now?" Faye asked, giving Ed a half smile. Edward shook her head in response.

"Can't say I'm surprised." Faye sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ed asked again, clearly skeptical.

Faye hesitated for a few seconds, then, opening her eyes and facing the ceiling, she finally answered, "Yeah, Ed. I'm fine. Don't worry so much. It's not like you to be so serious. It doesn't suit you at all." Ed nodded, then released the balloon from between her toes and let it float away. Ed, Faye and Ein all watched as it floated up to the ceiling, bounced a few times, the settled with some of the other balloons.

After a few seconds of silence, Ed jumped up, declaring, "Ed's tired of balloons now. Time for other pretty party thingies. You help, too, Faye-Faye!" She grabbed Faye's hand and pulled her up off the couch.

"What? Oh, Ed. Can't you just do this by yourself?" Faye asked wearily, nearly spilling what was left in her glass as she quickly put it down.

Pulling Faye towards the big box of decorations, Ed simply told her, "There's too much. Edward can't do it all alone."

"Ed, I'm really in no mood for this." Faye continued to protest, starting to get more annoyed.

"Here. You can help with these."

Ed tossed some rolled up streamers to Faye, who crossly gave in, saying, "Okay, fine. If it'll get you off my back, I'll help you decorate. Just tell me what you want me to do with _these_."

"Just this. Whee!" Ed exclaimed, spinning in a circle and tossing some streamers into the air. They all unravelled partially, some more than others, before hitting the floor.

"Uh, Ed? Sorry to spoil your fun, but aren't you supposed to hang streamers from the ceiling or on the wall, **not **just throw them all over the floor?" Faye said sarcastically.

"Ed's way works just as well. Here, Ein. You help, too." Ed answered with a quick shrug. She placed a bright blue, still tightly rolled streamer in front of Ein, who sniffed it, then picked it up in his mouth and walked away with it. After a moment, the dog put the streamer down and started pushing the now slightly wet decoration around with his nose. Of course, it was beginning to unravel somewhat.

"Yay! Good job, Ein!" Ed cheered. Once she'd finished applauding, she reached into the box for more streamers to throw.

Noticing that Faye was still just holding the decorations she'd been handed, Ed coyly told her, "You're the only one not helping, Faye-Faye!"

"Grrr! Would you stop calling me that! **_There_**. I helped. Happy now?" Faye said, tossing one streamer over her shoulder. Ed giggled and nodded.

"Hmmm. Well, I guess they're having a good time in there, judging by the noise." Jet mumbled to himself, hearing Ed's laughter from the other room.

Ed was now pulling little tubs of glitter out of her box, saying, "This will make everything _really _pretty." She lifted the cover off some red and gold glitter, and proceeded to throw handfuls of it everywhere.

"Jet's gonna blow a fuse when he sees this mess you're making." Faye warned, studying the streamer and glitter covered furniture and floor. Ed, either ignoring Faye or simply not concerned by her words, continued to jump around the room, humming loudly and flinging glitter. By now, she'd finished with the first container, and moved onto blue.

"Now you're the one who's worrying too much." she finally answered, sneaking up behind Faye and dumping an entire container of silver glitter on her head.

"OOH! What did you do that for!" Faye demanded. Ed ran behind the couch, laughing.

"Think it's funny, huh? You won't think so when I catch you!" Faye growled, diving after Ed and starting to chase her around the room. As soon as the two of them were away from the couch, Ein hid behind it.

"Come back here, you little brat!" Faye yelled, nearly slipping in a pile of glitter and grabbing onto the wall to catch herself. Ed grabbed another container of glitter from the box, lifted it high above her head, and dumped the whole thing down on herself, laughing more than ever.

"Boy, she hasn't changed a bit, has she?" Faye thought, watching Ed dance around with another streamer she'd found in the box. As she watched the young girl, Faye's expression changed to something that was almost a smile.

"And now for the grand finale!" Ed announced. With that, she tossed the rest of the glitter up into the air and flung the last yellow streamer. It landed in front of Ein, who was also covered in glitter due to Ed's antics. Ed fell backwards onto the couch, very happy with her decorating.

"Everything is just a big game to you, isn't it?" Faye asked, sounding tired and a little bitter.

"Edward never thought about it that way before." Ed said, looking thoughtful and serious. Well, for her, anyway.

"Well, it's true. You never seem to take anything seriously. I don't think I've ever seen you sad about anything. The only times I've ever even seen you get mad were when the rest of us went somewhere without bringing you anything. And even that you always got over in two minutes. You know, living alone for a long time at such a young age like you did would make most people bitter. Kind of hard-edged, and not very trusting. But not you. You're completely carefree and naive. Ha! Enjoy it while you can, Ed. Someday, even your life will be complicated." Faye explained, sitting cross-legged on the couch and pulling out a cigarette and red lighter.

"Why is that, Faye-Faye?" Ed asked, inching closer to Faye, who had sat down as far from her as she could.

"That's just the way it is, kid. When you grow up, your problems get bigger, and you're bound to be unhappy at least once in a while. It's something that can't be helped." Faye answered with a shrug, lighting her cigarette and putting the lighter away.

"Alright. Whatever you've been up to, you can get back to it after. Dinner's ready, and... What the hell have you been _doing _in here?" Jet said, sounding calm and casually waving a ladle around at first, then getting mad once he saw Ed's disaster.

"Decorating for the party, of course! But Edward is all done now." Ed explained, shaking some glitter from her hair. Faye snickered, waiting to see if Jet was going to get angrier with Edward or let her off the hook completely. She knew it could go either way.

"Alright. Fine. But you have to clean all this up." Jet finally said, still sounding grumpy, but not quite as mad as he'd been a minute ago.

"Now! Ohhh, but you just said it's time to eat!" Ed whined, sticking out her lower lip.

"It can wait 'til after you eat. But be careful not to spill anything on the floor, or else you'll have an even harder time cleaning up all that glitter." Jet said, frowning and shaking his head at the mess. Ein walked over to him, holding up a streamer between his teeth.

"So, she even got you into the act, huh?" Jet asked, removing the decoration from Ein's mouth.

After shoveling down about half her food, Edward said, "Mmmm! Bell peppers and beef. This is _sooo _good, Jet person. Edward was getting really tired of eating eggs all the time."

"I take it that means you found your father. He and that assistant of his pretty much live on raw eggs, don't they? Blah." Jet commented, remembering his and Spike's encounter with Ed's strange father.

"Uh-huh. Ein didn't like them, either." Ed replied quickly before returning to stuffing her face.

"So, Ed, how come you decided to come back to us? Don't tell me you ran away from home just because you like Jet's cooking better than your dad's." Faye inquired, refilling her glass again.

"Mmmm... Uh-uh. Ed was kind of bored. Ein, too. Whenever Edward tried to help with the maps, father person would say Ed couldn't help because she didn't know how. There wasn't anything for Ed and Ein to do. You guys **need **Edward to help you find bad guys who are worth more money. So, one day, Ed wrote a note and left. That's all." Ed explained calmly.

Then, holding up her empty plate, she started whining, "Can Ed have more? Please?" Ein lifted his empty food dish off the floor.

"Alright, you two. I can take a hint. May as well enjoy it while you can. After all the money we spent on the junk food, those decorations, _and _this meal, we'll be lucky if we can even afford enough bean sprouts to eat for a while. Especially now that there are three of us again, four counting Ein." Jet grumbled, refilling Ed's plate and Ein's bowl.

"Don't worry. Ed will make sure to help you find somebody worth a big reward, so we'll have lots of food!" Ed assured him before beginning to eat again.

"Hmmmphh. You don't need to be so cocky about it. It's true that having you around to track down leads on the 'Net is a big help, but you make it sound like we're totally incompetent. And I know that doesn't apply to me, at least." Jet said gruffly.

"Cheap shot, Jet. Real cheap shot." Faye muttered.

"Sorry. Ed didn't mean it like that." Ed apologized, her words muffled because her mouth was full.

"Whatever. So, Ed, I'm sure you had no problem tracking us down, but how'd you get from Earth back to Mars?" Faye asked.

"Oh, that was easy. Ed just hid in this cargo ship that had to make a quick stop on Earth before going to Mars. It wasn't really _supposed _to go to Earth first, but Edward fixed that." Ed explained, obviously pleased with herself.

"So I see. Well, I guess in theory that was a clever plan... But you shouldn't stow away on strange ships, Ed. That can be very dangerous, especially for a young girl. I know you had Ein with you and all, but, while he may be loyal, he's really not much protection." Jet warned.

"Okay. Ed won't do it again." Ed promised. For a minute, everyone ate quietly.

Then, Ed broke the silence with, "Ed has a question for _you _now. You said there were four of us. Edward, Faye-Faye, Jet person, Ein. That makes four. How come Spike isn't here?" Faye and Jet both hesitated, unsure of how to respond to Ed's question.

Finally, Jet cleared his throat and told her, "Spike hasn't been here for a while, Ed. He... went away not long after you left."

"Oh. Well, Edward went away for a while and then came back to Bebop. Spike will come back, too." Edward said, seemingly satisfied with the answer. She smiled and returned her focus to her food.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Ed." Faye whispered, draining her glass and reaching for the bottle of whiskey again.

"Don't you think you've had enough already? You've gone through practically all of it on your own." Jet pointed out, eying Faye and the nearly empty bottle.

"Uh-huh. Like I couldn't see that for myself. Relax, Jet. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself, and I'll know when I've had enough, alright? Sorry if I've been hogging all the booze, though. Didn't really mean to. Here. You're welcome to the rest." Faye said nastily, reaching around Ed to pass the bottle to Jet. He grabbed it, filled his own glass with what was left, and gulped down about half of it.

When she'd finished eating, Ed put her plate down and watched Jet and Faye drinking.

"Can Ed try some, too?" she asked, tugging on Faye's shirt to get her attention.

"Sure. Why not? This is _your _party, after all. Besides, according to a certain old stick in the mud, I've already had too much to drink, anyway. Here. Have a blast, kiddo." Faye agreed with a laugh, handing her slightly more than half empty glass to Ed.

"Ooohh..." Edward cooed, studying the liquid for a moment. Then, she raised the glass to her lips and swallowed what was left of the drink.

"Faye, what do you think you're doing, giving her that stuff! Aah! Ed, you shouldn't drink it all at once like that! Slow down!" Jet yelled. Of course, by the time he'd said all that, Ed was already finished. She put the empty glass down and looked around the room, dazed.

"Ed? You alright?" Faye asked, giving Ed a little poke.

"Oohhh. Maybe Ed is okay, maybe Ed isn't. Tee-hee. Ed isn't sure. Do you know?" replied Ed, whose cheeks were even rosier than usual.

"Errr... Uh-oh." Faye muttered, backing away from Ed.

With a hiccup, Ed unsteadily got to her feet, babbling, "Ooh. Everything is so shiny and spinning around and around and around... Whee!" She attempted to twirl around like she had with the streamers earlier, and instantly fell. As soon as Edward hit the floor, she fell asleep and began snoring loudly.

"Okay, party's over. I'm putting her to bed, and unless you're planning to clean up this mess, Faye, which I doubt, it's staying where it is 'til tomorrow morning." Jet declared. He finished his drink, tossed off the party hat Ed had made him wear, then picked up the young girl and carried her off. Ein followed.

"Well, I guess everything's staying where it is for the night then. It's still kind of early, but I may as well hit the sack, too." Faye said to herself with a yawn, getting up and placing her hat on the table.

Jet came back into the room, saying, "Ed's out like a light. Really, Faye, what were you _thinking_, giving her that?"

"Lighten up, Jet. Yeah, she's still pretty young, but she's not a little girl. I didn't see the harm in giving her a tiny bit of whiskey. And nobody told her to chug it like that. Was pretty funny, though." Faye replied, sounding a little defensive, but laughing just the same.

Then, all traces of humor left her voice as she asked, "So, how come you didn't tell her the truth?"

"Ed may not be as smart about most things as she is about computer systems, but she's not stupid, either. Sooner or later, she'll figure out that Spike's not going to come back. I didn't see any reason to tell her. Not on her first night back here." Jet explained, sighing a bit and leaning against a wall.

"One of us may as well tell her. But I guess you're right. It didn't have to be right away." Faye agreed, nodding and looking absently at her nails, then the floor.

"You wanna be the one to break it to her that Spike's dead, be my guest."

"Maybe I'll talk to her tomorrow when she wakes up. I'm going to bed now." was Faye's response as she walked away, heading for her room.

A few hours later, in a deep sleep, Faye was tossing and turning, troubled by her dream. In the dream, she was standing alone in complete darkness.

"Who's there? I know I'm not alone here. Come out right now, whoever you are!" she yelled, looking all around her and pulling out her gun. Out of the shadows, a figure was slowly approaching her.

"Who are you! If you don't either tell me who you are or stop right there, I'll shoot. I'm giving you three seconds. One. Two..." Faye warned, raising the gun and starting to pull back the trigger. The dark figure continued moving silently towards her.

"Three!" Faye shouted, firing into the air, just above the stranger, three times.

At last, the mysterious figure spoke, saying," Funny. I seem to recall you shooting over my head the last time I saw you. Guess you're still mad, huh?" It was a deep, male voice. Sort of cocky. And very familiar.

"No. No, it can't be!" Faye cried, recognizing the voice instantly. The man continued to approach her, and Faye could now see him clearly.

"Spike? No. That's impossible. You're dead. You died a long time ago." Faye said, her voice sounding all at once sad, frightened, and still a bit angry.

"I seem dead to you?" Spike asked with a soft laugh, touching the side of Faye's face with the back of his left hand, then placing the hand on her shoulder.

"N-no. But I don't understand. If you've been alive this whole time, why didn't you come back? Were you in a hospital? Did you not know where we were? What happened?" Faye asked, shaking her head. She lifted Spike's hand off her shoulder and held it tightly between both of hers.

"Shhsh. You ask too many questions, Faye. Besides, I thought you liked mysterious guys." Spike answered, smiling at Faye and putting a finger to her lips.

When he pulled it away, Faye told him, "Wherever you've been, it hasn't changed you a bit. Hmm. I'm not sure if I should slap you or kiss you." She did neither. Instead, Faye embraced Spike, resting her head on his shoulder. Slowly, Spike put his arms around her as well.

"I really thought I'd never see you again, but here you are. I can't believe you're back. This seems like it can't be real." Faye whispered in Spike's ear.

"That's because it can't." he whispered back. Faye gasped. She had felt warm and safe in Spike's arms, but now she was chilled.

She looked up at him, and, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, softly uttered, "No."

Spike was still there, but he no longer seemed solid. Faye could see right through him. A ghost.

"Sorry. Looks like this is goodbye again, huh?" he said, holding Faye tightly for a few seconds before releasing her and backing away. Then, he disappeared back into the darkness. Faye sobbed and covered her face with her hands. With that, the dream ended, and she woke up.

"No! I haven't had that awful dream in months." Faye gasped, wrapping her arms around herself as she sat up in bed. She was struggling to catch her breath and not cry, and was sweating heavily.

"Why do I have to have horrible dreams like this, anyway? Maybe I did have kind of a thing for him, but with these stupid dreams, you'd think I was in love with the guy. _As if_. He always got on my nerves. And now, even though he's gone, he's still a thorn in my side. Hmmphh. Love. Yeah, right. I **hate **him for being such a moron and making me get this upset over him." Faye continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Who are you talking about, Faye-Faye?" asked a sweet, cute little voice.

"Aah! What are you doing in my room!" Faye asked angrily, jumping up and turning to face the owner of the voice. Sure enough, there was Edward, sitting Indian-style on the floor and staring up at Faye. Ein was alongside her, looking half asleep.

"Oh. Edward got up to get some water, and heard you talking. You sounded upset, so Ed came to see what was wrong."

"Well, you can see I'm fine, Ed. I had a bad dream. I was talking in my sleep. It's nothing. You can get lost now." Faye said with a sigh, getting more annoyed now that the shock of finding Ed in her room was wearing off.

"So, who are they?" Ed inquired persistently, putting her elbows on Faye's bed and resting her chin in her hands.

"What are you talking about, Ed?" Faye asked crossly.

"You said you loved someone... and you said you hated someone. Ed just wants to know who. _Please?_Tell Ed who you love and who you hate." Ed said, leaning closer to Faye.

"If you must know, it's the same person." Faye answered, adjusting her pillow and starting to lay down again.

"What? Don't be silly, Faye-Faye. You can't love someone and hate them all at the same time!" Edward replied, bewildered by the idea.

"Oh, yes you can. I realize it must sound silly to you. When I was your age, I probably would have thought the exact same thing. But it is possible, Ed. Possible to love someone with all your heart and not be able to talk to that person for a whole minute without wanting to throw something at them. It's... another one of those things you'll have to wait until you're older to understand." Faye explained, looking up at the ceiling with half-open eyes. She had one hand under her head, and the other over her heart. Ed sat there, thinking it over, still not sure she believed what Faye was telling her.

Then, she jumped onto the bed, landing partially on top of Faye snd insisting, "Tell Ed who he is! Come _on_. Tell Ed who it is that you love and hate all at once!"

"What! No way! It's not something I want to talk about. Especially not with **you**, Ed! Now leave me alone so I can go back to sleep!" Faye rolled onto her side and and gave Ed a good whack with the pillow.

"Hmmmm. Ed will stay here with you. In case you have another nightmare." Ed decided, flopping down next to Faye.

"Uh-uh. Not happening. You snore too much. Plus you talk in your sleep all the time. And, even though I wouldn't have thought it was possible, you make even less sense when you're sleeping than you do when you're awake. Get out of my bed." Faye instructed. Ed didn't answer.

"No way. She can't fall asleep that quickly." Faye thought, turning her head to see if Ed was sleeping or just ignoring her. Edward's eyes were tightly closed, and she was already starting to snore softly. Faye sighed, exasperated. Suddenly, she felt her bed moving a bit. Ein was climbing up.

"Oh, no. Not you, too. Guess six months away from me made you forget that we don't get along, huh? Go on. Get down. _Now_." Faye said, waving her hand to shoo Ein away. Ein ignored her and began to settle down at the foot of the bed.

"If you're staying in here, you at least have to sleep on the floor. Get down. I barely have any room as it is, the way Ed sleeps. Now off!" Faye continued to complain, pointing to the floor and frowning at Ed, who had her arms and legs spread out. Ein looked at Faye and whimpered.

"Oh, alright, _alright_! You win. You can both stay where you are for tonight. But this is a one time thing **only**." Faye finally gave in, laying down again and facing the wall. Ein lowered his head and began to doze off.

"I really should kick both of you out. This is ridiculous. Guess I've just been spending too much time around Jet. I'm getting way too softhearted, giving into you like this." Faye grumbled, sounding annoyed. However, her expression wasn't anywhere near as harsh as her tone of voice.

Closing her eyes again, she whispered, "Good night, you guys."

It was the next morning. Faye was still asleep. By now, Ed and Ein were up, and she had her bed to herself again.

As she turned slightly, Faye was awakened by hearing Ed exclaim, "This is it! Ed has found a big one!"

"Well, at least Jet's already got Ed working on tracking down a big bounty for us. Guess I should go check this out." she said to herself with a yawn. Faye stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then slowly climbed out of bed. She glanced at her reflection and began to pull off her nightgown.

Meanwhile, Jet was asking, "What is it, Ed? What did you find?"

Ed, sitting in front of her computer and wearing her goggles, stuffed a whole muffin in her mouth, chewed it very slightly, then swallowed and finally answered, "Look here! The members of this gang known as the Destroyers. The reward is... Wow! 500,000 woolongs for each one of them." Jet and Ein both came closer to get a better look at what was on the screen. While they were doing that, Faye was taking a shower and humming to herself.

"Wow. It says here that there are five known members of the Destroyers. Five bad guys, 500,000 woolongs each... That adds up to... A two million, five hundred thousand woolong reward!" Edward gasped, seeming to be counting on her fingers as she figured out the reward.

"That's right. And believe me, we'll be happy to hand that over to whoever helps get those lousy bums locked up." a voice boomed from the computer.

"Hello, Mr. Officer Man." Ed said to the image of a dark skinned man in an ISSP uniform.

"Move, Ed. Let me talk." Jet ordered, giving Ed a light push out of the way. Faye, meanwhile, had finished her shower and was now wrapping a towel around her hair and pulling on her white bathrobe.

"These are the five known members of the Destroyers. Saito Akiyama, his two brothers, Aku and Yasue, a brainless thug named Hajime Yukino, and this woman, known simply as Foxy. Don't be fooled by her harmless appearance. According to all the reports, Foxy carries a wide assortment of weapons under her clothes, and isn't a bit shy about being the first to open fire. It isn't confirmed, but she's even suspected of being co-ringleader with Saito. " the officer said. Pictures of all five criminals, as well as various data about them, appeared beside him as he spoke.

"_That _mousy little thing? Hard to believe she goes by a name like _Foxy_, much less that she's a femme fatale. Oh, well. Guess it's true what they say about appearances being deceiving." Jet commented, laughing as he saw the picture of the simple and straight-laced looking Foxy.

Then, becoming more serious, he asked, "So, what are they wanted for, anyway?"

"Robbery, vandalism, assault, murder, destruction of public property, blowing up an officer's vehicle, drugs... You name it, these creeps are into it, basically." the officer explained. Then, he said, "Just last week, on Saturn, they got into a big fight with a rival gang, right in the middle of a crowded public area. With all the gunfire and flying knives, it's a wonder no civilians were killed, and that most of the injuries weren't serious. The worst part of the whole damn mess was that, out of all the good for nothings involved, we only managed to arrest one. And he doesn't even seem to have any connections to either the Destroyers or the other gang. Claims to be a bounty hunter, but couldn't give us any proof of his identity."

"Really? So, what'd you arrest the poor chump for, anyway?" Jet asked.

"He wrecked a car and part of a building, and used a few choice words with the officer who confiscated the gun he couldn't produce a license for. The smart-mouth punk's been in a holding cell ever since." the officer explained, then adding, "Here. Take a look for yourself." He pressed a button, and another image popped up on the screen of Ed's computer.

"Morning. So, what's going on around here?" Faye said, still sounding half asleep and stifling a yawn as she entered the room in her bathrobe and picked up a muffin. She dropped it and woke up completely when she saw the picture on the computer screen.

"**Whaatt? **This has to be some kind of mix-up!" Jet yelled, backing away from the screen, startled.

"It's... impossible." Faye gasped. Ed lifted up her goggles and looked back and forth from Faye to Jet curiously, confused by their reactions.

Then, blinking a few times and leaning closer to her computer to examine the picture, she exclaimed, "Oh! So _that's _where Spike is! In jail on Saturn."

Sure enough, the mug shot taking up about half the space on the monitor did look like Spike. The same long face and fuzzy brown hair. Dark brown eyes, one slightly lighter than the other.

"What? You know this guy or something?" the ISSP officer inquired.

"Well, we're... not quite sure. Uh, where did you say he's being held again?" Jet said, still shocked by what he'd seen.

"In a small prison on Saturn, waiting to go to court. I haven't had any contact with this prisoner myself, but from what I have on him, he could get out on bail, if he had any friends or relatives to get him out. But if he does, he won't talk about them. In fact, since he was interrogated and it was determined he had no connections to either gang, it seems the only time this hothead will talk at all is to demand his gun back or mouth off about how lousy prison food is. Some nerve, huh?"

"Uh-huh. Some nerve, alright. Well, we'll certainly be on the lookout for the Destroyers. We could really use the cash around here, as usual. So, let me know if you get any new information, alright?" Jet replied.

"Whatever you say. Adios." the officer agreed, signing off. The image on the computer returned to Ed's screensaver, a big goofy smiley face that resembled her.

"I, I guess I should go get dressed if we're going to Saturn, huh?" Faye stammered, looking completely dazed. Jet nodded.

"Yay! Hear that, Ein? Already we get to go on a big adventure again!" Ed exclaimed, throwing her arms around Ein.

A short time later, Faye was standing in the cockpit of the Bebop, saying, "I wonder who this guy really is."

Jet, who was steering the ship, answered, "Can't say for sure. But you have to admit, besides looking like Spike, the personality on the guy seemed to fit perfectly, too."

"So? I'm sure there are plenty of men with messy hair and bad attitudes who are picky eaters." Faye scoffed, putting her hands behind her head.

"Whatever. If you ask me, there's no harm in just going to Saturn to find out, one way or the other."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. But really. If Spike were alive, why wouldn't he have come back?"

"Amnesia, injuries that kept him laid up for a while, his ship could have been destroyed... There are a number of possibilities, actually." Jet replied.

"Oh, really? Funny. Just yesterday, weren't you the one telling me, 'I know it's hard to accept, but you have to face it some time, Faye. Spike is dead.' ? And now all this. My, someone's had a change of heart." Faye commented.

When Jet didn't answer, she continued in a much lower tone, "I know he's cheated death plenty of times before. Had lots of close calls. But do you honestly believe he could have made it out alive after going back to the syndicate?"

"I don't know. I realize you know about some of his close calls. But there's something you don't know anything about, Faye. Something Spike told me a long time ago, before we ever met up with you. He... told me that he had died once." Jet said.

"Uh-huh. And you believe that?" Faye asked skeptically.

"I've never been sure if I did or didn't." Jet confessed.

"This isn't some horror movie from the last century, Jet. People don't come back from the dead." Faye replied, shaking her head and starting to walk away.

"It's practically what you did, courtesy of cryogenic sleep." Jet commented with a bit of a chuckle.

"Ooh! You know, I really think that Spike was a bad influence on you. I don't remember you always being **this **big a jerk! Men. You're really all the same!" Faye shouted, stomping away.

She eventually walked past Ed, who asked, "What's wrong, Faye-Faye?"

"Nothing. _Everything_. I don't feel like talking to you, Ed!" Faye replied, continuing to walk away.

"Oh. Alright." Accepting the answer, Ed shrugged and returned to the game she was playing on her computer.

A few seconds later, she pouted, "_Ohhhh! _Edward lost again!"

"Tough break, kid." Faye sympathized, sounding distracted as she looked over her shoulder at the laughing face on the computer screen. Looking at it, Faye thought of the image she'd seen there earlier.

"No. It can't be. It's impossible." she whispered.

"What's impossible, Faye-Faye?" Ed looked up at her, a curious sparkle in her big eyes.

"It's impossible that the guy on Saturn is really Spike."

"Huh? Why? Ed knows he never got arrested before, but there's always a first time. Especially the way Spike always gets into fights." Ed said, smiling.

"No, Ed. I don't mean it that way." Faye replied, touched by Ed's cute innocence.

"No? Ed is confused." Edward complained, folding her arms and staring intently at Faye, waiting for an explanation.

Faye stared back at her for a moment, thinking, "Why does she have to _look _at me like that? Well, Jet won't tell her the truth. Somebody has to."

She sighed, turned so she was no longer facing Ed, and explained, "It can't be Spike... because he died, Ed."

"What?" Ed asked, surprised by what she'd just been told.

A short time later, they arrived on Saturn.

"This is it. This is the facility we were supposed to come to." Jet announced, climbing to the ground. Faye, Ed and Ein all followed.

"Uh, sorry, Ein. They probably don't allow animals inside. You'll have to stay here." Jet said, patting the small dog's head and guiding him back inside the spaceship. Ein whimpered a little, but obediently turned around.

"Hmmmm... Edward will stay with Ein." Ed decided, also climbing back inside.

"I've never seen Ed so quiet before. Wonder what's wrong with her." Jet commented, closing the hatch.

"Don't know." Faye lied quickly. Then, running one hand through her hair, she said, "Come on. Let's get this over with." She began walking towards the jail, and Jet followed.

"Hey, you two. Can I help you with something?" a guard asked, sounding suspicious.

Meanwhile, inside a small, dark cell, a man was sitting completely alone. His head was down, and his hands were clasped in front of him. The only light in the cell came from the end of the cigarette in his mouth.

While Jet and Faye were undergoing weapons scans and other security checks, back on the Bebop, Ed was laying on the living room floor, saying to Ein, "Faye-Faye said that Spike was dead. But the officer man said he was in jail. Now Edward doesn't know what to believe. What do you think, Ein?" Ein walked over to Ed and licked her face.

"Alright. Everything checks out. The prisoner you asked to see is right this way." a female officer instructed Jet and Faye, leading them down a narrow corridor. As they walked past the cells, several men stared at Faye lecherously. Some whistled.

"Hey, sugar! I get outta this hellhole in a week. How 'bout you and me celebrate my release together, huh?" one called.

"Why don't you forget whoever you came to see and come in here instead?" another one offered.

"Hey you! Get in here! The only women I've seen in six years are these crabby guards and my ugly wife! Get in here! Get in here right now!" another man ordered, punching the walls of his cell.

"Hmmphh. Stare all you want, boys. 'Cause trust me, that's _all _you'll get to do." Faye said, smirking a little and stretching with her arms above her head, sticking out her chest. This resulted in more whistles and shouts. One man flung his underwear out of his cell. The pair of shorts landed right in front of Faye.

"Yechhh." she groaned, making a disgusted face and maneuvering around the underwear. This detour caused her to be a little too close to one of the cells. A hand shot out and grabbed her right ankle.

"Aah! Let go!" Faye shouted. She quickly raised her free foot and brought it down hard on the man's hand. He screamed and backed away.

"Perverts." Faye muttered, picking up a bit of speed and smoothing her hair as she walked.

"That's what you get for encouraging 'em." the guard snickered. Faye glared at her, but didn't say anything. Finally, they reached the end of the row of cells.

"Hey, troublemaker. You've got a couple of visitors." the guard told the prisoner, knocking on the bars of his cell.

"Oh, really?" he asked casually. Faye and Jet both gasped. The voice was very familiar.

"Yeah. I'm surprised that anybody came to visit you, too. These two here seem to think that you might be somebody they know." the security guard explained, tilting her hat and taking a few steps back. Faye and Jet came closer to the cell, but, both unsure of what to say or do, neither one spoke.

Finally, Faye found her voice and asked, "Alright. What's the deal, anyway? Who are you?"

The man in the jail cell didn't answer her. Instead, he finished his cigarette and crushed the butt on the floor. Then, he pulled a cord that hung from the ceiling. A small, dim lightbulb clicked on. It didn't give much light, but the man could now be clearly seen.

"Oh, my God!" Faye gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth and taking a step back, bumping into the guard.

Spike Spiegel lifted his head, turned to face the others, and gave them a half smile, half smirk.

"Well, well. So, we meet again." he said, watching Faye and Jet closely.

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._ **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, readers of Cowboy Bebop fanfics! Yes, I'm back. I realize it's been a very long time since I first posted Part I of this story. And I realize that I promised those who read the first part that the next one would be up very shortly. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly true to my word there, and I apologize for that. Thanks again to all my original reviewers. Sorry for the long delay. It really won't happen again. I hope those of you who read my first chapter will find that this one was worth the wait. Also, welcome new reviewers! **

**Bittersweet Rhapsody**

**Part II**

"Say something. You look like you've just seen a ghost." Spike told Faye and Jet, never taking his eyes off them.

"It's really you. I don't believe it. You are alive." Faye finally stammered, staring at Spike's face and taking a few steps closer to get a better look at him. After their eyes met briefly, she turned her head and backed away.

"Obviously. We don't arrest _corpses_, lady. So, is this troublemaker your friend or not?" the guard said, getting more impatient.

"It... would seem that way. Yes." Jet answered, starting to regain his composure.

"Good. I take it that means you're going to be taking him off my hands?" the woman asked, rolling her eyes.

"Of course. Uhh, exactly how much **is **it, anyway?" Jet inquired, thinking of the Bebop's poor financial situation.

"If I recall correctly, it's 150,000." Spike said, slowly getting up.

"Ha! Nice try. If it were up to me, I'd let anyone willing to pay a single woolong deal with you and your big mouth. But I happen to remember that your price tag is actually _250,000_." the officer corrected him, scowling.

"_**250,000?**_ Spike, what did you _do_?" Jet asked in disbelief.

"Nothing worth that much. I wrecked a piece of junk car, and probably contributed to the damage done to a building that was already pretty shot up thanks to those two gangs." Spike explained with a shrug.

"Uh-huh. Not to mention you couldn't prove the claim that you were a bounty hunter. You resisted arrest. And your conduct helped to endanger the lives of numerous civilians and officers alike. Along with the bail money, you'll also have some hefty fines to pay." the guard added, continuing to scowl.

"Not exactly the kind of news we needed." Jet groaned.

"You were with the ISSP once, Jet. If you tell them that, I bet they'll let him go. Or lower the bail. If you can at least get them to do that, I think I can pull it off." Faye whispered to Jet, glancing back at Spike.

"Huh? I thought you were broke." Jet looked surprised... and a little suspicious.

"Never mind that. Just find somebody to talk to!"

"Okay. Are you two bailing your friend out or not? 'Cause I really don't have all day for this." the guard grumbled, eyeing Faye and Jet warily.

"Yes, we are. Who do I speak to about that?" Jet answered.

"Right this way. Follow me." the officer said, leading the way. She smiled, happy she'd be rid of Spike soon.

Turning to face Jet, she asked, "So, you were an ISSP officer? Tell me something. How's a former cop become friends with a flashy little hussy like her and a cocky punk like him?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder about that myself. And you haven't even met Ed." Jet replied with a laugh.

"If Ed is anything like either of them, I'd rather keep it that way."

Once Jet and the security guard were out of sight, Faye moved closer to Spike's cell, saying, "I still can't believe it. When I saw that mugshot on Ed's computer, I thought there had to be some kind of mix-up. I didn't think it was possible that you were..." Her voice trailed off.

"Alive? That doesn't surprise me. Okay. You need proof I'm really me? I'll tell you something only I would know about you. Let's see. Since we first met, I've saved your life twice and gotten you out of trouble too many times to count. When we last saw each other, you fired your gun over my head as I left." Spike said, kicking the floor of his jail cell and looking alternately at it and at Faye. His words sent a chill through Faye, and the memories started racing through her mind.

She saw herself standing with Spike in a long corridor of the Bebop, hearing him say, "I'm not going there to die. I'm going there to find out if I'm really alive." Then he had walked away. As he did, Faye had fired her gun directly above him, then continued firing several shots towards the ceiling. After Spike had left, she'd stood there for a long time, tears running down her face.

The next memory was from her dream, the voice of the shadowy figure saying, "Funny. I seem to recall you shooting over my head the last time I saw you. Guess you're still mad, huh?" This was followed by the embrace, then the image of Spike becoming a ghost and vanishing. His words just now had been so similar to those in her dream that they brought it all back so clearly, so vividly.

"Umm, hello? What are you thinking about?" Spike asked, managing to stick his hand between two of the bars to tap Faye's shoulder. She gasped as the touch of his fingers on her skin brought her back to reality.

Recovering quickly, she gave Spike an angry look, backed away and told him, "Trust me, I know it's you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the money we need to get you out of here." With that, she walked off.

A few minutes later, she was out of the prison building and back on the Bebop, racing to her room, hearing Ed ask, "Huh? Faye-Faye? You're back already? What's going on?"

"I can't talk right now! You can come back with me if you want to!" Faye shouted, racing past Ed and Ein.

"She seems happy. Sort of. Ed thinks that something good has happened, Ein!" Edward exclaimed, smiling. Her eyes were shining.

"I knew there had to be a reason I'd saved up this much without blowing it!" Faye thought, digging a thick pile of money out from under her mattress and shoving it into her jacket. She then began racing back towards the building.

"Wait, Faye-Faye! Edward is coming, too!" Ed jumped up and did sort of a cartwheel, ready to run after Faye. Ein got up to follow Ed.

"Sorry, Ein. Jet already told you that dogs can't come. Don't worry. Ed won't be gone long." Ed said, giving Ein a quick pet on the head before running off. Ein whimpered a bit but sat down obediently.

"Alright. I'm back. Well, were you able to talk to anyone? Did you get it lowered by much?" Faye asked Jet in a raspy whisper. By this point, she was a little out of breath from all her running.

Before Jet could answer, another voice said, "I'm in charge of collecting bail, lady, so I'm really the one you should be asking that." Faye turned her head and saw that the voice belonged to a male officer, somewhere in his early fifties, seated at a desk behind a reinforced glass enclosure. The man adjusted his glasses and went on, "You're lucky. I happen to hate the guy who arrested your pal there, and when I heard about the language he'd used with the old man, it was the best laugh I'd had in years. If I had more influence around here, he'd be off scott free. As it is, bail's been reduced to 100,000."

"Fine. Here you are." Faye said with a little sigh, pulling the wad of bills out of her jacket.

"Huh? Where'd you get all that?" Jet inquired, stunned by the large amount of money.

"Won it." she replied quickly, counting the bills.

"Every time you've came back from gambling lately, you told me you'd lost." Jet frowned at Faye.

"Uh-huh. So I told a little white lie. No big deal. If you have to chew me out, save it for later, Jet. Right now, I'm trying to count." Faye snapped, rolling her eyes and keeping her back turned to Jet.

Then, smiling at the bail collector, she said, "I trust you'll find it's all here, officer." The old man pressed a button, which opened up a window in the glass.

"Thank you, Miss." he said, sticking his hand through the opening and taking the 100,000.

"You're very welcome. Now, is everything settled?" Faye was still smiling, but starting to sound impatient now.

"Not quite. Of course, there will be some paperwork to fill out, and one of you will have to return the prisoner's civilian clothes to him. And there's the matter of the fines, as well." the officer replied, writing on some papers in front of him.

"F-fines? But I thought you liked Spike because he told off that cop you don't get along with!" Faye stammered.

"I do. But I already told you, what I think doesn't count for much around here. Lucky for you, a few higher-ups are somewhat agreeing with me on this one. You're getting off easy. You've already paid the 100,000 for bail. But I'm afraid you'll have to hand over another hundred and fifty thou before your friend can be released." the officer explained.

"But that's 250,000! You call that getting off easy?" Faye demanded, punching the glass with both fists.

"I call it that because it **is**. Think about it. 250,000 was the original amount for bail alone. That plus the amount the fines would have come to if they hadn't also been reduced... You'd have been looking at 700,000 minimum. So, are you gonna pay up, or are we going to have the pleasure of Spike's company for a while longer?" By now, the old man's pleasant voice had taken on a gruff tone, and he was getting fed up.

"I'll pay. Damn. I really hoped I wouldn't have to part with everything. Here. I'm not sure if it's 150,000, but it's all that I have left." Faye agreed reluctantly, pulling out the rest of her supply and handing it over to the man at the desk.

"You had _more _money? How long have you been holding out on me, Faye?" Jet asked angrily, his eyes bulging in disbelief.

"A while. Relax, Jet. It doesn't matter anymore now. After this, I'm as broke as I've been telling you I am." Faye sighed and adjusted her jacket.

"Settle this somewhere else. You fill all this out. You take these to him." the bespectacled man instructed, pushing a pen and stack of papers towards Faye and pulling something out of a drawer, which he then handed to Jet. It was a pile of folded clothes, mainly blue. Recognizing the items, Jet nodded and walked away with them.

Outside, Ed was being asked by a guard, "Hey kid, where do you think you're going?"

"Ummm, Edward thinks Edward is going into the jail to see what's going on."

"Uh-huh. How old are you, kid?" asked the annoyed guard.

"Ed is 13. How old are you, Mr. Big Angry Man?" Ed replied, moving her head from side to side and studying the security guard's face.

"43, like it's any of your business. Hmmphh. Sorry, kiddo. You gotta be at least 18 or accompanied by someone who is to see what's going on in there."

"Ohh! But Jet and Faye-Faye already went in. Faye-Faye came back, but only to get money and leave again. Spike person is either locked up in there... or he's dead. And Jet says you won't let Ein go in because he's a dog. So there _isn't _anyone to go in with Ed." the young girl explained, pouting a little.

"Well then, Ed will just have to get lost. Beat it, kid." Obviously not impressed by Ed's big story, the guard grabbed her shoulders, turned her around, and gave her a little push in the opposite direction. Ed shrugged unhappily and let out a loud sigh, then started heading back towards the Bebop.

"And I thought my kids were weird!" the guard muttered to himself, watching Ed closely to make sure she didn't try to come back.

Back inside, the collection officer, watching Faye, suddenly asked her, "So, both of those guys your boyfriends or what?"

"Are you kidding? Jet has no idea how to have any fun, and he's bald, and I don't go for guys who are older than me unless they're rich, which he's definitely not. As for Spike... Let's just say that I could make a list of reasons why that would never work out, but it would take at least twice as long as all this boring paperwork." Faye scoffed, looking up from the stack of papers and smirking a little.

"I see. Oh, well. I wouldn't worry. I'm sure you'll find someone eventually, a pretty girl like you. Though working on that attitude might help a bit. It's obvious you think men are all idiots. And most of us don't particularly appreciate contempt like that from a woman, dear. Even one as attractive as yourself." the man advised, giving Faye a gentle, almost sympathetic look.

"It's _not _something I worry about, believe me. And if men wouldn't act like such complete idiots, then I wouldn't have to think of them that way, would I, old timer?" She glared at the man briefly, then returned her attention to the form she was filling out. He chuckled a bit, but didn't say anything else.

Meanwhile, Jet, with his back turned to Spike's cell, was saying, "Well, I guess your luck hasn't run out yet. As much as they dislike you around here, the cop who arrested you doesn't seem to be Mr. Popularity, either. So your little scuffle with him put someone in a generous enough mood to lower the cost of bailing you out. And Faye had just enough money that she'd been hiding from me to pay the bills."

"Good thing she didn't decide to become honest while I was gone, huh?" Spike joked, pulling on his jacket.

"I see your sense of humor hasn't improved in the last six months." Jet replied, closing his eyes and cracking a smile.

"Seriously. Didn't mean to put you out. So, did..." Spike began to say, adjusting his tie.

"Yes, they agreed to give your gun back. But I wouldn't show my face on Saturn anytime soon if I were you, buddy." Jet laughed a bit.

"Unless another bounty leads me back here, I don't intend to." Spike kicked the prison uniform he'd been wearing under his cot. He was now dressed completely in his normal attire.

Ed was letting herself back on the Bebop, telling Ein, "Bad news, Ein. They won't let Edward go in, either. Ed wonders what's going on." Ein barked.

"Oh, well. Can't just sit and wait. Hmmm. Jet wants all the party stuff cleaned up. But if Spike _is _coming back, it isn't fair that he doesn't get to see it. For now, Ed will just rearrange the decorations. Change everything around. Yeah! Come on, Ein. You can help, too!" Ed's new plan perked her up very quickly. Ein, not nearly as happy with the idea, ran and hid when he saw Ed pick some streamers up off the floor and begin to throw them at the couch.

"I don't believe it. Somebody actually came to pick up this stray cat. You're sure I'm not just dreaming, right?" the female guard who couldn't stand Spike asked as she walked with Faye and the bail collector back towards the cells. Again, most of the men they passed stared at Faye through the bars of their cells.

"Nope. Everything's all set. He'll be out of your hair for good in a few minutes." the old guy assured her. Faye groaned as the crook who'd thrown his underwear towards her earlier waved to her and whistled.

"You had to go and get them all fired up, didn't you?" the female guard said gruffly, giving Faye a disgusted look.

"Ha ha. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get them turned off - I mean, calmed down- in no time." Faye replied haughtily with a phony smile.

"You and that troublemaker deserve each other, ya know that?" Faye was told by the older woman.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Nah. She says she could make a list of reasons they could never be a couple that'd go on practically forever." the old man said.

"Oh. Too much in common, I suppose." the woman commented.

"Hey! I thought you were supposed to be police, not matchmakers! Can it!" Faye yelled, blushing a bit and getting sick of the conversation.

"Whoa. What's your problem?" Spike asked, holding his hands up as if to shield himself.

"Hmmphhh. For once, nothing _you _did." Faye answered quickly before turning her back to Spike so he couldn't see how red her face was. She hadn't realized how close to his cell they were when she yelled at the two guards, and wondered just how much he'd heard.

"Well, I don't know or care why, but these two have paid 250,000 woolongs to get you out of here. You're free to go." the woman guard announced. She smiled as she pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the cell in front of her.

"It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am." Spike told the grouchy guard, giving her a sly smile as he walked past her.

"Just see to it that it's a pleasure you don't have again, punk." she answered.

"Okay, enough. You'll have to fill out a couple of forms if you want that weapon of yours back so badly. Then you're outta here. And, after all the favors I called in for you three today, I want you to do one for me, got it?" the male officer said, grabbing Spike by his left arm to lead him to the desk and away from the other guard.

"And what would that be?" Jet asked, following them.

"Don't let me see any of you around here for a long, long time."

"I had a feeling that was it. Don't worry. I'll do my best to keep them from bothering you again." Jet agreed, glancing at Spike, then over his shoulder at Faye.

"One minute." Spike said suddenly, pulling away from the guard and heading over to Faye. She was still standing in front of the now empty jail cell, eyes closed tightly, arms crossed over her chest, trying to get herself together.

"Hey. You planning on spending some time here now? Gotta say, I don't recommend it." Spike commented, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"What? Hmmphh. Newsflash. Whoever told you your jokes were funny was lying to you, Spike." Faye answered sharply, opening one eye and giving Spike a dirty look. Then, head held high, she strode past him.

"What is her problem? Besides the usual everything, that is." Spike questioned as he rejoined Jet and the two guards.

"Maybe she's got a little more sense than I gave her credit for." the female guard suggested with a chuckle.

"I'm going back to the ship ahead of you guys! Somebody's got to make sure Ed hasn't done too much damage being alone all this time." Faye announced loudly, not looking back or slowing down as she left the building.

"I thought you said something about Ed before. So, when did she come back?' Spike asked.

"Yesterday. Ein's still with her, too, in case you were wondering. Faye wandered off for a while, and when I came back from getting her, those two were waiting for us. Ed was practically torturing the bountyhead we'd captured." Jet laughed at the memory of Ed pestering the crook.

"Oh? And exactly how was she doing that?"

"How else? Just by being herself."

"That could definitely be torture for some poor sap who's not used to Ed. Strange, huh? First, Ed and Ein surprise you like that, and then you find out that you have to come get me out of jail. It's like we're having a reunion or something." Spike commented, turning his head from side to side and occasionally looking up at the ceiling.

"Strange doesn't even begin to cover it." Jet replied, shaking his head.

"Faye-Faye! You're back. Tell Ed what happened!" Ed demanded, running to Faye the second she saw her.

"I, I guess you were right, Ed. You know, when you said that he would come back just like you did, and that it wasn't impossible it really was Spike in that mugshot." Faye answered, still dazed. She brushed some of the glitter off the couch, tossed two streamers back onto the floor, and flopped down on her back.

"Aha! Ed thought so! Why did you lie to Ed?" Edward asked, leaning over the back of the couch and peering down at Faye.

"I didn't realize I _was _lying." Faye admitted, closing her eyes and putting her hands under her head. Ed thought this over for a few seconds.

"Oh. Ed has another question."

"Fine. Go ahead and ask. I know you will even if I say not to."

"Why did you think that Spike was dead, Faye-Faye?" Ed's eyes were open wide as she stared at Faye, waiting for an answer.

Faye's eyes opened just as wide as more memories raced through her mind. Her encounter with Julia. Spike leaving immediately when she told him Julia had said she'd be waiting for him. Spike taking off again after their final argument, to go back to the syndicate and face his past once and for all. She shut her eyes again, trying to shut out the memories.

"Because I didn't know what else to think." she finally answered, opening her eyes just a crack. "If you want a better answer than that, you'll have to talk to Spike yourself, Ed."

"Okay." Ed agreed, nodding.

She was quiet for a moment, then, smiling sweetly, whispered, "It's him, isn't it?"

"Now what are you talking about, Ed?" Faye asked, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"Don't you remember, Faye-Faye? When we were talking after you had your bad dream, you said there was somebody you loved, even though you hated him, too. It's Spike, right?" Ed climbed onto the couch as she spoke, nearly crash-landing on Faye's feet.

"I don't have to tell you that if I don't want to. And guess what? I don't want to." Faye grumbled.

Climbing on top of the couch and trying to imitate Faye's pose, with one leg straight down and the other up with the knee bent, Ed giggled and said, "Ooh! Ed knew it! Does he know? Did you tell Spike how you feel? Or are you waiting? You know. Until you're sure if you love him or hate him. Ed still doesn't believe you can do both at once."

"No, he doesn't know anything." Faye admitted absently. Then, realizing what she'd just said, she gasped and continued, "I mean, I'm not telling you if Spike even is the person I was talking about last night. I don't know how you'd even get a stupid idea like that, Ed. Honestly. What makes you think that I have... feelings for Spike?" She sat up and glared at Ed.

"_Wehhlll... _You were upset because you thought the person you're all mixed up about was gone. And you **did **think that Spike was gone for good. And your face is all red. You're blushing!" Ed giggled again.

"I am not! Listen to me, you! I had a dream last night. It was just a stupid dream. It doesn't mean anything. My face is red because _you're _making me mad. And don't you dare say a word about any of this to the guys! And, and the next time I catch you in my room, you're history!" Faye screamed, jumping up and waving her fists, then collapsing back onto the couch.

"Don't worry. Edward won't say anything to them." Ed promised quietly, sitting next to Faye and smiling at her sweetly, then giving her a quick hug and saying," Poor Faye. You really are all mixed up, up , up." Faye sighed, glancing wearily at Ed.

"Great. I must be a worse mess than I thought, to be hearing that from you. Say, don't you think you've been giving me the third degree long enough? Spike and Jet should be here any minute now. You should go annoy them for a while. I've had enough. Until they get back, go move your decorations around some more, or lose at one of your computer games again. I don't care what you do, as long as you get lost. Please?" she said, giving Ed a relatively gentle push away from her.

"Alright. But Ed has just one more question first."

"Oh, no. You said 'one more question' about half a dozen annoying questions ago. Sorry, but the interrogation's over." Faye shook her head stubbornly in refusal.

"Ed just wanted to know... if you were happy that Spike isn't dead, and that he came back."

Surprised by that question, and a little touched by it, Faye gave Ed a weak smile and told her, "Yeah. I am, Ed."

"Ed has to go find Ein now. Bye, Faye-Faye." With that, Ed jumped off the couch and left the room, sort of skipping.

"Finally, I can hear myself think. I thought Ed would never back off." Faye complained to herself.

Just as Faye was beginning to relax, she heard footsteps, and Spike saying to Jet, "So, Faye got Ed drunk? Too bad I didn't get back yesterday. I would have liked to see that one!"

"Well, she didn't quite get her _drunk_, thankfully. But it was funny now that I think about it." Jet replied with a chuckle.

"I can't believe you, Spike. You've been in prison for a week, and God knows where before that, and will you say a word about any of it? No. You're too interested in gossiping about me. Ugh!" Faye griped, sitting up and glaring at Spike over the back of the couch.

"Sorry. Just sounds like an interesting party you had last night. I wish I'd been here for it. You know, I thought you'd be happier to see me, Faye." Spike said, strolling over to Faye and sitting next to her.

"Are you alright?" she asked, keeping her eyes on Spike, but never looking at his face.

"I got a couple of cuts and bruises in the meileigh that landed me in that rundown jail, but nothing serious." Spike replied, showing her a mostly healed cut on his left arm.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Faye turned her back to Spike.

"I heard you were the one who came up with the cash for my bail. I thought I should thank you." Spike said after a moment.

"Don't forget, I also paid the fines for all the damage you caused." Faye reminded him.

"Uh-huh. I think that security guard will be eternally grateful to you for getting me away from her." Spike tried to get a look at Faye's face so he could see if his joke had gotten her to smile.

"She should be. What did you do to make her hate you so much, anyway?" Faye's tone was still cold and unfriendly.

"Nothing. That I'm aware of. Maybe I remind her of someone who dumped her once or something. Until I met her, nobody had called me a punk since I was fifteen. You're a woman, and you seem to hate me about as much as she did. I was hoping you'd help me figure it out."

"Sorry. Can't help you there. She didn't seem too fond of me, either. Maybe she's just a grouch in general. Or maybe I remind her of a woman someone dumped her _for_. Either way, I'm sure she doesn't dislike you for the same reasons I do." Faye told him with a shrug.

"Whoa. Look, if you're mad about the money, I'll pay you back when I can." Spike offered, genuinely surprised by how Faye was acting.

"I thought about asking you to do that. But you can forget about it. It's alright."

"Let me get this straight. You had to part with 250,000 woolongs to bail out a guy you aren't exactly thrilled to see, and you don't want to be paid back, even partially. Something about that just doesn't add up. Maybe I should be the one asking if you're alright." Spike said. Faye's not wanting any money took him by surprise even more than anything else she'd said or done so far.

When she just ignored him, he continued, "I mean, it's not like you to just do something out of the goodness of your heart without expecting anything in return."

"I'm not doing it out of the goodness of my heart. I'm just being realistic. It would be nice to have someone in debt to me for a change, but I know you, remember, Spike? You hardly ever have any money, either. And when you do, you either blow it as fast as I do, or you have a million bills to pay for causing damage somewhere. So, even though you say you'll pay me back, I already know it's not going to happen. Come to think of it, you probably know that, too. So let's just spare ourselves the silly game, okay?" Faye explained with a short laugh. Still not looking at Spike, she got up and left the room.

"Okay. I haven't been back here for five minutes yet. Mind telling me what I've done to get her that worked up so soon?" Spike asked.

"Well, Spike, I think maybe..." Jet began unsteadily, placing one hand on the back of his head. He wasn't sure what he should say next.

Jet didn't have to worry about this for long, because before he could get another word out, Edward burst into the room and flung her arms around Spike, yelling, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Edward is happy to welcome you back!"

"Uh, hi, Ed. Glad to see you again, too. So, at least one of the girls around here is happy to see me." Spike said with a laugh, getting one arm free from Ed's hug and messing up her hair a bit.

"Ed has a question now. Why did Faye-Faye think you were dead?" Ed asked, staring up at Spike with those wide, innocent eyes.

"You'd have to ask her that." Spike replied, prying Ed off and standing her up on the floor.

"Ohhh! But Edward did that already! All Faye-Faye said was that she didn't know what else to think, and Ed should go talk to you!" Edward pouted, folding her arms and sticking out her lower lip.

"Ed, you know, it's kind of rude to jump on somebody and start asking questions like that." Jet said with a disapproving frown.

"Edward is sorry." Ed apologized quickly as she sat on the floor. Then, she said, "They told Ed you left a while after Ed did. Ed left to find father person. Did you go away to find someone too, Spike?"

Spike closed his eyes, and images of Julia flashed through his mind. The day they met. The first time they made love. The day he said goodbye to her three years ago. Their brief reunion. Julia aiming her gun at him in the graveyard, then lowering it and embracing him. The two of them being shot at by assassins from the syndicate.

Julia, looking up at him, whispering, "Just... a dream." The last words she spoke before she passed away.

"Yeah, Ed. I left to find someone. I needed to go away... to find out who I really am. To find the real me." Spike finally answered, thinking now of when he went back to the syndicate's headquarters. His final showdown with Vicious.

"Oh. Did you?" Ed asked, now even more confused.

"I think so." Spike was now staring out one of the ship's windows into the distance.

"Maybe Ed will understand when Ed is older. That's what Faye-Faye keeps saying. Well, I still don't know what happened. But Ed is happy you came back even though the others thought you wouldn't." Ed replied almost shyly.

"Thanks, Ed. But I don't want to talk about this anymore, alright?" Spike said, giving Ed a half smile.

"Alright. Wanna see the decorations from Ed's party?" Ed asked cheerfully.

"Sure. Why not?"

Listening to all of this from the hallway, Faye was thinking, "I can't believe him. He really thinks everything can just be the way it was before, that he can come back and not tell us anything, and we'll all accept it. Agree to change the subject, and act as if nothing's happened. Well, that may work with Ed, but I'm not so easy. Uh-uh. Whether he likes it or not, I'm going to make Spike explain where he's been all this time."

A while later, done with showing Spike all of her party decorations, Ed was walking around the ship, calling, "Ein! Ein, where are you? Come out, Ein! It's okay. Ed is all done with the sparkly stuff!" Ein barked timidly, then slowly came out of the bathroom.

"Aha! There you are, Ein!" Ed exclaimed, running over to the little dog. She crouched down alongside him.

"Ed has something to tell you, Ein. Something happened while we were gone. No one will talk to Ed about it, but Ed can tell. Spike person seems different somehow. He said something about having to find the real him. Ed can't make sense out of that at all. And Faye-Faye's really mad a t Spike. More than normal, I think. Yep, they're definitely hiding something. But don't worry. Ed will find out what's going on." For a minute, she looked more serious than usual again. Then, laughing her usual goofy laugh, she pulled her goggles down over her eyes and gave Ein a rough hug, which he immediately tried to wriggle out of.

Meanwhile, inside a large, off-silver colored ship that was flying through space, a young, Asian man was leaning over a computer screen. He had a black mohawk with an orange streak, and two earrings in his left ear. He wore an open denim vest and off white pants, and sported large tattoos on both arms, as well as across his chest.

"Hey, Foxy! Come over here and look at this!" he exclaimed suddenly.

"Coming." called a soft, female voice. A woman with pale, creamy skin, medium brown hair and olive green eyes entered the room. She was dressed in a light yellow blouse, long, button down skirt, and black ankle boots with very low heels. Her hair was tied on the left side with a pale blue ribbon, and she wore wire rimmed glasses.

"What's up, honey?" she asked, grabbing two glasses and a bottle of red wine from a shelf.

"Come see for yourself." the man insisted, his fingers poised over the keyboard.

"Okay, okay. Here, sweetie. Now, what is it that's got you so excited?" Foxy said, filling the two glasses, handing one to her boyfriend and keeping the other for herself. She sat down on a pillow on the floor. The man laughed again and turned the computer around so Foxy could see it.

"Oh, my God! Saito, is this what I think it is?" Foxy gasped happily.

"Sure is, babe. A complete guide to the security system of the biggest casino on Jupiter. With this, we know the exact locations of all five of their safes. We know where every trap and alarm is located." Saito bragged.

"And, we know exactly what types of traps and alarms they have. Which means we can figure out in advance how to disarm every single one of 'em. And all because my lover was able to hack into their so-called impenetrable system. Saito, you're a genius!" Foxy exclaimed, running her free hand along Saito's face seductively.

"You know what they say, Foxy girl. Behind every great man is a great woman. Without you around to inspire me, I'd still be just another small time thug." Saito replied.

"I seriously doubt that. You're not like Hajime and your stupid brothers. Even without me here, I think you'd still be on your way to becoming the most infamous criminal mastermind in history." Foxy cooed. She took a sip of wine, then asked, "So, when do we clean out this casino?"

"Well, it'll take a lot of planning, even for a couple of criminal masterminds like ourselves. And I think we might need a bit more artillery. This is a big job, after all."

"I can't wait. Just think. The sirens wailing when they figure out what's happened, us making a daring escape... It'll be so romantic. So, what do you think is the best way to do it? Go in with guns blazing? Or be discreet? Disarm the whole system ahead of time, and just stroll into the vaults like we belong there? You know I prefer the more daring approach myself. But there is something to be said for not having the security guards know what's going on until it's much too late as well. Maybe we can combine the two methods, huh?"

"Hold on a minute, Fox. This could be too dangerous. I mean, things can go wrong with even the best laid plans. I was thinking it might be best if you and I aren't actually there when this goes down."

"That's not fair. You know I _like_ danger. Come on. It's sweet you wanna protect me, but in case you've forgotten, I'm no fragile damsel, Saito. I can hold my own as well as any man if things go wrong. You don't expect me to just stay home all the time and let you guys have all the fun now that we're engaged, do ya?" Foxy complained.

"Of course not! Just 'cause you can look the part when you have to, you're not the innocent little housewife type, Foxy. And nobody wants ya to be. But I don't wanna risk losing you, either. You were just in a brawl last week, remember? Isn't that enough excitement to tide you over for a while?"

"That pathetic little scuffle with the Wildfires? Ha! That might have been fun, if it weren't for that guy who wrecked everything, and for the police showing up so soon. Anyway, it clearly wasn't enough to last you and the other guys for long. So I don't see why you thought it would be enough for me." Foxy argued.

"Okay, okay. You made your point. Gotta admit, dangerous as it could be, this does sound too cool for us to just sit on the sidelines. Heh-heh. We're gonna be famous, Foxy. It's already started, but our names are gonna be legendary someday." Saito gave in.

"I know. But you never answered my question before. When? When are we doing it?" Foxy inquired persistently.

"Like I said, it'll take some careful planning. But that's no problem for us. This place has been undergoing some major renovations. The grand reopening is the day after tomorrow. That soon enough for ya, sugar?" Saito said, examining the images on his monitor again.

"Uh-huh. As long as... you find some way to keep me busy until then. Besides just planning, that is." Foxy replied in a low, sexy voice, putting down her glass of wine and beginning to unbutton her blouse.

"I was wondering why you were still dressed like that, Foxy." Saito commented as Foxy continued to remove her clothes, revealing her sexy red and black lingerie... along with the holsters on her thighs, shoulders, and just above her ankles. Each one contained a gun or knife. There was also a long dagger in a sheath attached to her boustiere. She undid the ribbon and messed up her hair a bit.

"That's more like it." she said, tossing the hair ribbon and her glasses onto the floor with the rest of her clothes.

"Face of an angel, body of a goddess, and you're a weapons and explosives expert. And they say there's no such thing as a perfect woman." Saito commented, staring fondly at Foxy's lovely form as she removed her many weapons.

"You're flattering me too much. You must really want me, Saito." Foxy purred.

"You know it. But first, my beautiful Foxy, a toast." Saito replied, standing up and lifting his glass.

"To us?" Foxy asked coyly, lifting hers again.

"To us. And to the beginning of the legend of us." Saito agreed, stroking Foxy's face and shoulders with his empty hand. The two of them clinked their glasses, then raised them to each other's lips. After they had finished their wine, Foxy and Saito dropped the empty glasses to the floor and kissed passionately. Embracing, the two of them fell to the floor.

"Hee hee. Guess we'd better give Foxy and the boss their privacy." said a man on the other side of the closed door who'd been watching through the keyhole.

He was talking to a larger man, who shrugged and replied, "Hey, good for them."

"More like good for us. Whenever those two make one of their little toasts and then hit the floor like that, it always means they're workin' on something big." the smaller man said.

"Oh, yeah. You got a point, Aku." the larger one agreed, nodding. Both men resembled Saito, but were less attractive.

"Come on, Yasue. Let's go tell Hajime." Aku instructed.

"Yeah. He needs to know the good news, too." Yasue followed Aku down a long corridor.

Now, we turn our attention back to the crew of the Bebop. Spike was sitting alone on the couch, flipping through television stations. One showed an infomercial for some kind of vacuum. On the next, two girls dressed in costumes identical except for the color were singing off-key. This was followed by a bunch of ninjas fighting. Then a woman being chased by a monster. A cooking show. A commercial. A station that was off the air for the night. After going through all the stations about four more times, Spike finally decided on the ninjas. He put the volume down a notch, tossed the remote aside and stretched out. Of course, just as Spike's eyes were beginning to close, the picture on the screen began to misbehave. At first there were just a few jumpy lines. Then the picture kept flashing back and forth between the now blurry ninjas and a bunch of black and white, staticy snow.

"Ugh. Some things never change, I guess." Spike grumbled, getting up and ambling over to the TV. "Alright, you stupid thing. If that's what you're going to do.." he warned. With that, Spike gave the side of the TV a good, swift kick. The picture was perfect for about a second, then began to jump again.

"Ha ha. Real funny. Come on, you piece of junk. You're gonna work whether you want to or not!" Spike gave the television another kick while punching the top of it. The picture became clear again, and this time, stayed that way.

"There. That's more like it." Spike said after watching the screen for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't going to act up again. Satisfied with the job he'd done, he went back to the couch to watch the ninjas.

"I don't believe it. He seems exactly the same. I thought he might have been putting on some kind of act for the rest of us, but even when he's by himself, Spike doesn't seem any different at all. I don't get it." thought Faye. Dressed in a white tanktop and pale pink and green shorts, she was standing in the doorway, observing Spike. She cleared her throat and took a few steps into the dark room.

"How long have you been there?" Spike asked without turning to look at Faye.

"About five minutes, I guess. Before you go getting any ideas, no, I wasn't spying because I was hoping to see you take your shirt off or any stupid thing like that." Faye replied, walking further into the room.

"Okay. So why were you spying on me then?" Spike asked, knowing that comment was sure to annoy Faye.

"I wouldn't really call it spying. I was just... watching you for a few minutes. That's all." Faye snapped, turning her head.

"I see. You were watching me... without my knowing it. Sorry to burst your bubble, Faye, but that sounds like spying to me." Spike said with a laugh and a smirk.

"Ooh! Whatever. Well, I finally thought of one good thing about having you around again. You're the only one who can ever fix that stupid television when the picture jumps like that." Faye commented nastily, sitting down on the couch a matter of inches from Spike.

"I see. You didn't stand there spying and then come in here just to tell me _that_, did you?" Spike questioned, sounding sarcastic and already knowing the answer.

"No. I just couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind, I guess. Why are you up?" Faye said, keeping her head turned so that she wasn't looking directly at Spike, but peeking at him out of the corner of her eye many times.

"Same here." Spike told her. Then he said, "I'm surprised you're sitting here having this conversation with me."

"I said plenty of things to you earlier, Spike. And you deserved every one of them, by the way. But I never said I wasn't speaking to you." Faye informed him, smirking a little herself.

"No, you never actually said it. But ever since the last time you told me off, you've been giving me the cold shoulder, and you've barely said a word to me. So you can see how I got that impression." Spike explained calmly. For a minute, Faye didn't answer him.

Then, bitterly, she whispered, "Can you blame me, Spike? I just don't know what to think. It was a real shock to the system, finding out you're still around, ya know? You've been gone for so long, and I heard that the Red Dragon headquarters was completely destroyed, and... Is that true?" Spike nodded and closed his eyes.

"I can imagine there were very few survivors. But you **did** survive. I have to ask. When you were in prison, how come you didn't contact us? Even though no one there seemed to like you very much, you must have still been entitled to a phone call. Why didn't you let us know where you were?" Faye asked, a bit of the anger leaving her voice.

"you mean besides the fact that I didn't think you'd be able to make bail? Which, by the way, you wouldn't have, if it weren't for you having a rare winning streak and hiding the money from Jet. Think about it, Faye. You and Jet were positive that I was dead. You wouldn't have believed it was really me. You'd have thought it was some kind of hoax. Somebody playing a cruel joke, or trying to lure you into a trap. Am I right?" Spike explained. His voice and expression were becoming bitter now, too.

"Yeah. You... probably are." Faye admitted, nodding weakly as she thought it over.

After a moment, she managed to ask, "Even if we hadn't found out you were in that prison on Saturn, you wouldn't have stayed there forever. Sooner or later, you'd have been released, or found a way to escape. What then? Would you have come back here, Spike? Or would you have just moved on? Left this part of your life behind you, and let me, I mean us, go on thinking that you'd been killed?" She wrapped her arms around herself tightly, struggling to contain her emotions.

When Spike didn't answer her, Faye, letting herself become angrier, continued, "You know what? Forget about what might have happened in the future. I don't care about hypotheticals right now. What I care about is what's happened in the past half year. So far I've only asked why you didn't contact us from jail. I'm letting you off way too easy. After all, you were only there for about a week, and you've been gone a lot longer than that. Where were you before you got arrested, huh? Spike... you remember the last time we saw each other before you left, don't you?"

"Yeah. I remember." Spike replied, the look in his eyes distant.

"I thought you did. But I almost wanted to believe that you'd forgotten somehow. Because it, it hurts to think that after that, you would choose to stay away for so long without letting me know you were alright." Faye said, forcing back a sob.

"The reasons I left, and the reasons I've stayed away for this long... None of them had anything to do with you, Faye. So they shouldn't be any concern of yours. Understand?" Spike told Faye, watching her closely. She looked up at him, visibly upset by his indifference.

"No, I'll never understand. Like I said, I just don't know what to think anymore. And you're not making it any easier. In fact, you're just making it more difficult for me to think straight. Not like that surprises me. I've finally convinced myself that this isn't a dream. But other than the fact that I'm not dreaming, there's nothing I'm sure of. Tell me something, Spike. Is Julia really dead? Or is she alive somewhere, too? What, have the two of you been hiding out together this whole time? Is that why you never came back? Because you and Julia ran away together?" Faye said, her eyes sparkling as they burned into Spike's.

"That's enough. You wanna throw one of your hissy fits and then try to get me to feel sorry for you by pretending to be sad, fine. I've been through the routine enough times before. But leave Julia out of it." Spike demanded. He glared at Faye for a few seconds, then stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry. Honest, I am. I only met Julia once, but I liked her. And I know she meant a lot to you." Faye apologized, looking away from Spike and swallowing hard.

"Do you _really_?" Spike asked.

"Uh-huh. You know, she loved you just as much, Spike. It was obvious." Faye added, a sad smile on her face.

"That's it. Contrary to what you think, you don't understand everything. And I've had enough of this for one night. Goodnight, Faye." Spike said gruffly, getting up and leaving the room. Faye stared after him for a few seconds, then flung herself down on the couch and threw the remote across the room with a frustrated cry.

"Great job, Faye. Just _great_. You don't know anything more than you already did, and now he's angry with you. Oh, let him be mad! Maybe I was prying, and no, I shouldn't have mentioned poor Julia. But I have every right to be angry, too! After I confronted him that day, he must have known how I feel about him. And even with that knowledge, he just let me think the worst, all this time! I don't understand it. How could you, Spike? How could you? I know I'm not your favorite person in the world. But I didn't think you hated me that much." Faye thought, blinking a few times. She was so lost in her unhappy thoughts, she didn't hear Jet walk into the room.

"Faye? You alright?" he asked after a moment.

"Huh? Sorry, Jet. I didn't realize you were there. So, I guess you heard that whole thing, huh?" Faye said, lifting her head and seeing Jet standing over her.

"Most of it, yeah. And believe me, I wish I hadn't heard a word of it. I was wondering how long it would be before you confronted Spike. To be honest, I'm surprised you waited this long."

"I'm sure you think I went too far. And I don't care. Doesn't it make you mad too, Jet? How he thinks he can just act as if nothing ever happened, without giving us a word of explanation? I just can't get over the nerve that man has! Doesn't it bother you at all?" Faye questioned bitterly as she sat up again.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't. But it's none of our business, and, unlike you, I know that. Whatever happened to Spike, he'd tell us if he wanted us to know. The man lost everyone who ever meant anything to him. Let him leave his past behind him."

"I understand that, Jet. You guys don't seem to think I'm capable of comprehending any of this, when actually, I can relate better than anyone. Spike isn't the only person who doesn't have anyone left from his old life, remember? Ohh. I'm not trying to force him into reliving bad memories. That's the last thing I wanna do. I just think I deserve an explanation or an apology... something!" Faye complained, repeatedly clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I'd tell you again to mind your own business and let Spike be, but I know you won't listen, so I'm not going to waste my breath trying to talk some sense into you. I'll just tell you this much. He hasn't said a word to me about where he's been, either, and we were always good friends. So it's nothing personal. He isn't being secretive to deliberately hurt you, Faye. You shouldn't get offended so easily." Jet told Faye, briefly patting her left shoulder with his right hand, then pulling away.

"Don't lecture me." Faye whispered harshly before laying down again.

"Fine. Start as many fights as you want. I know you will, anyway." jet grumbled as he left the room.

He was thinking, "What a mess. Those two! Well, they can sort it all out themselves. This is the last thing I want to get caught in the middle of."

"What am I going to do?" Faye asked herself out loud, curling up into a ball. She lay awake for a while, trying to find an answer to her question. Exhausted by all the ups and downs of the day, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

A matter of hours later, she was awakened by Ed tapping her and saying, "Wake up. Faye-Faye, you have to get up now."

"Ugh. _Why?_" Faye asked groggily, rolling onto her back and keeping her eyes closed tightly.

"Because you'll miss breakfast if you stay asleep. Jet says there isn't much to go around this morning, and you're out of luck if you don't get there soon enough." Edward explained.

"Can't you just save me something?" Faye asked, getting onto her left side to get away from the sunlight that was now hitting her in the face.

"Mmmmm... Edward is afraid to forget to do that once Ed starts eating. Sorry, Faye-Faye." Ed shrugged a little and gave Faye a goofy smile.

"Oh, alright. I'm getting up." Faye groaned, pulling herself up. "You know, you're really getting useless, Ed. You can't even do a simple thing like saving me some breakfast. And you've been too busy playing that stupid game that you invented but can never win to track down any leads."

"But Ed hasn't been playing that game." Ed answered truthfully.

"Oh? Well, I know you haven't been doing anything helpful. What have you been up to?" Faye questioned, eyeing Ed suspiciously.

"It's a secret, Faye-Faye." Ed said teasingly.

"Oh. I get it. You're working on some new game, right? Wow. Really juicy secret, Ed. Well, good luck with this one. Just make sure it doesn't take up time that you're supposed to spend tracking that Destroyers gang, or some other bountyhead." Faye answered, not sounding very interested.

"Okay. Ed will make sure. And Ed is sorry for slacking. But Ed did do one good thing, Faye-Faye." Ed replied.

"Oh? And what would that be, Ed?" Faye asked with a yawn, walking towards her room.

"It was Edward who found Spike, remember?" Ed bragged, her smile broadening and her eyes shining.

"Hmmm. I'm not so sure if that qualifies as a good thing, Ed." Faye commented with a short, sarcastic laugh and a sour puss.

"Not good. They must still be fighting. I guess she just hates him right now." Ed sighed, watching Faye leave.

On her way back to her room, Faye, half asleep and not paying much attention to where she was going, bumped into Spike.

"Hey, sorry, Jet. Oh. It's you. Forget what I just said." she said, sounding apologetic at first. Of course, once Faye saw it was Spike she'd collided with and not Jet, she became angry.

"Hmmphh. You should get your head out of the clouds once in a while and pay attention to where you're going." Spike commented, not sounding particularly friendly himself.

"I should let you know, you're getting your wish. From this point on, I'm **not** speaking to you." Faye informed Spike, her voice quiet, but still firm and angry.

"I'm surprised. After all the money you had to part with on my behalf yesterday, I figured it would be at least another decade or so before you did me a favor again." Spike replied, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. Faye growled a bit and shot Spike a dirty look before storming past him without another word. When she reached her room, she slammed the door shut as hard as she could.

"Guess that's how she plans on letting me know she's mad while she's not talking to me. Oh, well. Can't say it isn't an improvement." Spike said to himself, walking away casually.

A short time later, at breakfast, he was asking Ed, "You were glued to that computer of yours all day yesterday. Find anything of interest?"

"Not really. The best thing Ed found was a report that the most recent sighting of that gang was on Mars. All of them got away again, and are believed to be heading towards Jupiter." Ed reported.

"That's it? That's all you've found out? Ed, whatever kind of games you've been playing, I want you to put them aside. Buckle down and see if you can find anything to back up the information you already have. Alright?" Jet instructed, clearly unimpressed by Ed's progress.

"Alright." Ed agreed, nodding and stuffing her face.

"Before we leave Saturn, we have to make one stop. I need to get my ship." Spike announced.

"I hope you're not going to say it was impounded when they arrested you. Or that it's in a repair shop. Because if that's the case, I'm sorry, Spike, but we do not have the money. Unless of course, someone has more hidden under her pillow." Jet said, casting Faye a suspicious glance.

"For the zillionth time, I'm broke now. You searched my whole room. And, since you said you were too much of a gentleman to look through all my clothes, you had Ed do that, remember? And neither of you found so much as a single woolong." she reminded him sharply.

"Relax. Neither of you has to worry about paying anything. Just in case something went wrong, I left the Swordfish with someone who lives just outside the town. You know, so it wouldn't be damaged during the chaos, or impounded if I were arrested. And this person is an old family friend who owed me a favor. No money involved." Spike explained calmly, lighting a cigarette.

"Good. Because no money is exactly what we have." Jet grumbled. After that, everyone finished eating in silence.

"Ed doesn't know what to do, Ein!" Ed complained later when she and Ein were away from the others. The little brown and white dog looked up at her sympathetically.

Edward did a little flip, then, standing on her head and hands, continued, "Spike was gone for a long time, but won't say where he went, or why Faye-Faye and Jet person thought he had died. Now he and Faye-Faye are having a really bad fight. And she isn't making any sense to Edward at all. Edward has been trying to find out stuff through the Net, but it's no good. It's like Spike person disappeared for a while before he went to jail. Ohhh! And everyone is mad because they think Edward has just been playing games. Hmmm. Ed hasn't asked Jet any questions yet. Maybe I should talk to him. He might have some better answers. No. That isn't a good idea. He's the one who's really mad at Ed, since Faye and Spike are too busy being mad at each other." With that, Edward lost her balance and fell on her face.

"Ow! It's okay, Ein. Ed isn't really hurt." Ed assured Ein, pulling herself onto her knees and laughing.

Then, becoming serious again, she asked, "Ein, what do you think? Do you think that if Ed tracks down the Destroyers, and we're able to catch even one of them and get the money, everybody will forget their problems and everything will be okay again?" Ein barked.

"Edward didn't think it would be that easy, either." Ed sighed, falling onto her back. Ein barked again, nudging Edward with his nose, then licking her face.

"Are you thinking the same thing as Ed is, Ein? That... it would help, even if it doesn't make everything all better? You're right. Edward promises not to give up." Ed agreed, smiling, feeling better, and pulling up her goggles, which had been hanging from around her neck. Then, she tapped a couple of keys on her computer with her toes. Ein wagged his tail, glad to see Ed acting more like her usual self.

The rest of the day went by fairly calmly. Faye and Spike gave each other dirty looks once in a while, but neither one said a word to the other. If Spike caught Faye watching him, she'd always turn her head quickly and walk away, trying to act as if she hadn't been spying. Ed spent the whole day glued to her computer, trying to locate any relevant information on the Destroyers. Yes, things were peaceful as the Bebop headed towards the outskirts of Griffon City.

"There you are! Let's see. You don't seem to have any injuries. You got arrested, didn't you, ya bum?" yelled an old man sitting on a porch that had seen better days. The Bebop had been landed outside his house. Sitting alongside the house was Spike's fighter ship, the Swordfish II. The old man got up and moved with surprising quickness towards Spike, who had Jet, Ed and Ein with him.

"How'd ya know that, Lucas? I mean, if you listened to news reports, of course you would know all about the big rumble in Griffon City. But I know that's not your style." Spike said, raising one eyebrow curiously.

"Dang straight. Media's all a government conspiracy, and I want no part of it. Anyways, I don't need no dang reporter to tell me the obvious. The only reasons you would have taken this long to come get your ship would be if you were in a hospital room or a jail cell. And you look perfectly fine to me." the old guy explained. Then, laughing, he added, "And after all that braggin' about how you'd never been thrown in the slammer. Ha! Didn't I warn ya, there's a first time for everything? You haven't changed, Spike. Still too cocky for your own good, same as when you were a kid."

"Yeah, I guess. Well, thanks for guarding her." Spike replied, forcing a laugh.

"Yeah, sure. I owed ya one, didn't I? But you're lucky, Spike. If you didn't come to get that hunk of junk in two more days, I planned on selling it for scrap!" Lucas laughed, twirling his mustache. He was in his seventies, and had gray hair with bits of white, along with a beard and mustache. His shoulder length hair was in a ponytail, and he wore glasses. The old man was dressed in overalls, a white t-shirt and blue cap.

"Huh? Hey old man, what kind of favor is that?" Spike asked angrily.

"Well, it would practically be two weeks then. If you left the Swordfish here for that long, I'd have to figure that you'd either been killed or you were gonna be spending some serious time in the big house. Either way, you wouldn't be needing yer ship, now would ya?" Lucas replied with a shrug. Then, laughing wildly, as if he'd just said something hysterical, he added, "And I was just pullin' your leg, anyway. Tsk tsk. Too arrogant and too serious. You really are the same as always. Never got my jokes back then, either." He scoffed again and shook his head.

"Spike, who _is_ this weird old guy?" Jet asked, whispering the question to Spike while staring at Lucas, who now seemed to be talking to the dirt.

"My grandfather was his best friend, and the only other person who ever got any of his jokes. Lucas lived on Mars for years before he moved to Saturn. This guy was always around when I was growing up. And, before you go blaming the way he acts on his age, don't. Lucas has always been this way." Spike whispered back.

To Lucas, he said, "The joke would have been on you if you tried to sell her for scrap. I honestly don't think you'd get much for the Swordfish."

Pulling a pipe out of his pocket and beginning to "smoke" it without actually lighting it, Lucas answered, "You can get a decent price for anything if you know the right people. And I happen to know the right person for practically everything. So, these the people who bailed your sorry butt out of jail?"

"Oh. Sorry I haven't introduced you. Jet, Ed, this is Lucas Evans. Lucas, Jet Black and... Edward. Oh, and the mutt's name is Ein." Spike said, pointing to each one as he said their names. When Lucas looked at him, Ein quickly hid behind Jet.

"Calm down, boy. He's just a little old man. He's not dangerous." Jet said, bending down to Ein's level and stroking the dog's head and upper back to calm him. After thinking for a few seconds about what he'd just said, Jet asked, "He isn't dangerous, is he, Spike?"

"Lucas likes people to think he's a weapons expert and has a huge collection of guns and knives. Luckily, since everyone thinks he's a lunatic, and most people can't tell if he's being serious or not, no one's ever challenged that claim. Which is good, because in reality, all he has are a pistol older than he is that he can't aim more than a few inches in front of him, and a whittling knife that would probably lose a fight to a potato at this point. The old guy just tells a good story." Spike assured him.

"Hmmmphh. I hear every word you're saying, ya know. Okay. So I'm not a hotshot with a firearm like you. But it was my bad reputation that kept your piece of crap spaceship safe all this time, and don't you forget it!" Lucas snapped, continuing to puff on his unlit pipe.

"I won't. Trust me, I'm grateful. Well, since we're even now, I guess I'll see you around." Spike replied, giving Lucas a quick and sort of sarcastic bow.

"Oh, no. They say that once you've paid off all your debts, your time runs out. And I'm in no hurry to kick the bucket. So, I plan on coming around needing another favor someday soon, just so I can owe you one again. Can't check out while I owe my best friend's grandson a favor." Lucas disagreed, shaking his head and waving his hands in front of his face.

"Right. Does anyone actually say that? Besides you, that is?" Spike asked, smirking and already knowing the answer.

Lucas launched into another fit of laughter, slapping his right knee and exclaiming, "Aah, you got me! Finally catching on, eh, boy?"

"Guess so. Come on, Jet. I need you to open the hull so I can dock my ship."

"Uh, nice to meet you." Jet told Lucas untruthfully as he walked by him on his way back to the Bebop.

"Hey, I got a question for ya. How come _she_ didn't come out here? My reputation scare her?" Lucas asked, pulling Jet back by his cybernetic arm. With his free hand, Lucas was pointing upward. Following the old man's gaze, Jet saw he was pointing to one of the Bebop's large windows. Sure enough, Faye was standing by the window, staring at what was going on and smoking a cigarette.

"Nah. Faye doesn't scare easily. It doesn't take much to get her angry, though. And right now, that's the reason she's staying behind."

"Oh? Who's she so mad at? You or Spike?" Lucas inquired with a mildly leering look.

"You sure are nosey. As for who Faye's mad at, oh, pretty much the whole universe, as usual. But mostly Spike." Jet explained, getting free from Lucas and walking away. Ein followed very quickly. Ed, however, stayed behind.

"Hello, Mr. Old Man." she said, stepping in front of Lucas and studying him curiously.

"Ya know, you remind me a bit of myself when I was young. Except you're too skinny. How old are you, boy?" Lucas said.

Edward held up all ten fingers and said, "This, plus one, two, three. But Edward isn't a boy, silly."

"Huh? You're tellin' me that you are a girl? No way! My granddaughter was a bit slow to fill out herself, but I've never seen any thirteen year old girl who looked this much like a skinny boy. And Edward is not a little girl's name." Lucas grumbled, blinking in surprise and moving his head up and down, looking Ed over.

Trying to imitate the old man's head movements, but moving much faster, Ed insisted, "But Edward is Edward's name. And Edward is a girl. Ummm, what are you doing?"

"Trying to determine if you're lyin' to me. Come here." Lucas said gruffly, getting behind Ed, then tugging on her shirt to pull it tighter. He looked over Ed's shoulder, trying to see if her chest stuck out at all with the shirt "adjusted".

"Aah! That kind of tickles. And Edward really doesn't like it. So, Ed will be leaving now. Goodbyeeeee!" Ed said anxiously, uncomfortable with Lucas's behavior. She squirmed away from him and sprinted towards the Bebop, yelling, "Jet! Ein! Faye-Faye! Ed is coming back now!"

A short time later, the large ship was flying through space again, with Spike's Swordfish II back in its old spot in the hull.

"So, where are we heading now?" Spike asked Jet.

"Jupiter. Ed found some reliable information about this big casino reopening tomorrow. A place called the Lucky Star."

"And?"

"The Lucky Star is the largest casino on Jupiter. But apparently, contrary to what their name may have you believe, they've had some terrible luck. This place was robbed 20 times last year alone. Last time, some idiot trying to torch a safe open burned down nearly the whole building. Long story short, they've rebuilt... complete with an ultra advanced security system. Flamboyant as they are, I'm not sure the Destroyers or any other high profile criminals will show up, but you know as well as I do that there are bound to be some troublemakers who can't wait to test how well that new system really works. Some of them will probably be first time hotshots in way over their heads, but there'll have to be at least a handful with price tags on their heads."

"Aah, I see. Sounds like the odds will be in our favor, even though neither of us usually has much luck in casinos."

"Right." Jet agreed. Spike laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jet asked, cocking his head to the right a bit.

"I was just thinking, it's too bad we have to bring Faye along. You think she'll actually concentrate on work if we're within a mile of a casino?" He looked at Jet over his shoulder, and both of them started laughing.

It was early the next morning. The ship had landed on Jupiter, and most of the crew were sound asleep.

The only one awake was Faye, wandering around, thinking, "Again I can't sleep. If I get dark circles under my eyes, it's going to be all Spike's fault. Maybe Jet is right. Maybe I should just let it all go. Pretend everything's alright like they're doing, and let the past fade away. It's possible that is for the best." She walked into the living room and saw Spike sleeping on the couch.

She walked over to him, stood behind the couch, and, resting her chin in her hand as she watched him sleep, whispered, "It's not fair. **You **never seem to have any trouble sleeping. Honestly, you'd think somebody with all your secrets, and the kind of awful memories you must have... would suffer from bouts of insomnia, or at least have a nightmare once in a while. But do you? No, of course not." Her tone was a combination of scornful and affectionate. Faye stayed where she was for a moment, then left.

As she walked away, she thought of Ed asking her, "Does he know? Did you tell Spike how you feel? Or are you waiting? You know. Until you're sure if you love him or hate him."

Thinking back now, she smiled and thought, "Since when did Ed get so perceptive about anything you can't learn by hacking into a computer system? Hmmm. I've made up my mind. No, maybe I have never come out and told Spike everything. But if he can't figure it out by now, then I'm not sure that man would understand if I spelled it all out for him. But maybe I'm expecting too much of him. After all, _I _barely understand any of what I'm thinking or feeling these days. That's it. I'm going to confront him again and come clean. Let him know what's in my heart, and give him a piece of my mind while I'm at it. The next time we're all alone. And, if I don't do it by the end of today, then that's it. I never will. It's over. I'm just going to let everything go. Put all of these memories and feelings behind me, so we can all go on with our lives." She nodded to herself, feeling she'd made the right decision. Before Leaving the room, Faye looked back at Spike and whispered, "Sweet dreams."

A matter of hours later, Ed was walking through a hall with Jet, asking him, "The casino is all the way on the other side of Jupiter. How come we didn't go there sooner?"

"Because, it's never a good idea to begin a stakeout too far in advance. There's too high a chance you'll be spotted, either by whoever you're on the lookout for, or some other bounty hunter who might get the wrong idea and think you're up to something illegal yourself." Jet explained, then scolding, "You're getting as impatient as the other two. We're leaving soon enough, so hold your horses."

"Alright." Ed agreed quickly. Then, her stomach rumbled, and she complained, "Edward is starving! Isn't there anything left at all?" Ein barked in agreement.

"Sorry, you two. I stretched our food supply as far as I could, but we're out of everything. You see, Ed? I told you, you shouldn't have bought so many balloons and things. If you hadn't wasted so much money, we'd be able to buy more supplies." Jet gave Ed a stern look.

" No food and no money? Ohhh. No good at all." Ed groaned.

"Tell me about it." Jet grumbled sarcastically. Then, seeing the pitiful looks he was getting from both Ed and Ein, his expression softened as he told them, "Look, as long as things go alright today, then we should at least have enough for a decent meal tonight. In the meantime, you're both strong and healthy. You're not going to waste away if you miss a couple of meals. Just try to keep busy so you don't think about it, okay?"

"Okay." Ed agreed reluctantly. Then her stomach growled again, and she sulked away with a heavy sigh. Ein looked back and forth between Jet and Ed, who were now going in opposite directions. After a few seconds of deliberation, he decided to follow Jet.

Meanwhile, Spike (who had been sleeping in a light gray undershirt and striped boxer shorts), now fully dressed in his usual dark suit, was putting on his boots, glancing occasionally at the TV screen, which was currently working.

The news was on, and a woman with medium blonde hair and large, bright blue eyes was saying, "And we're live at the Lucky Star Casino, where tonight is the grand reopening! As you may already know, it has been closed for over a year, ever since a thief accidentally set fire to the place and nearly burned the entire building to the ground. Gosh!" As the woman talked, her voice kept slipping into a phony Texan accent.

"Whoa. Easy there, Judy. Still can't quite get away from that last gig of yours, huh, pardner?" joked a male newscaster whose image had appeared next to Judy's via satellite hookup.

"I did it again? Sorry. After all those years on that stupid show... And then we got cancelled..." Judy said in her normal voice, startled at first, then quickly progressing to furious.

"Uh, Judy? You're still on the air." the newscaster back in the studio reminded her nervously.

"Oh. Sorry again, Chip. Anyway, folks, another fact that you may or may not already know is that the Lucky Star has had more than its share of bad luck in the past. They were robbed more times than any other casino in history, and, because of this, nearly went bankrupt three separate times. Now that it's been rebuilt, the owners are boasting that they have the best security system ever!" Judy continued, holding her microphone with one hand and adjusting her low-cut red blouse with the other.

"So, would you say the odds are in this hotspot's favor this time around?" Chip asked with a sly smile.

"Gee, I don't know. All bets are off on that subject 'til tonight!" Judy replied. Both reporters laughed.

"What corny jokes. They're almost as bad as Lucas. And don't these casino owners realize that by bragging about their precious security system like this, they're practically daring someone to try and beat it? Stupid. Hmmm. That girl looks pretty familiar." Spike said, semi recognizing the female co-host of Big Shot. Just then, the picture on the screen began to jump again.

"If we have any luck today, maybe we can finally get this stupid thing fixed." Spike grumbled, clicking off the TV.

Faye was in her room, brushing her hair and saying to her reflection, "Remember, you've only got one more chance. If you can't get him alone, or you do and you just can't say what you have to say, that's it. Game over. No more making yourself nuts over a guy you can't even stand half the time." She shook her head and put the hairbrush down, then closed her eyes.

When Faye opened them and looked at her reflection again, she could see a younger version of herself, about Ed's age, smiling and saying, "I know it's hard sometimes, but you just have to believe in yourself. And remember, I'll always be with you." As the image of the younger her in a school uniform faded away, Faye stood there, sadly thinking of her lost past. Friends she'd never see again. The beautiful house she had run to so many times in her youth. Finding it again, but in ruins, almost completely gone, half a year ago. The mysterious tapes of herself that had been sent to her. The accident that nearly took her life the very first time she went into space.

"Great. Like I really needed to start thinking about all that again today." she groaned sarcastically as she left her room.

Ed was wandering aimlessly about the ship, mumbling, "Edward searched the whole kitchen up and down in case Jet person missed something, but there was nothing. Ed needs food. Ed's bored. What is Ed supposed to do right now? Edward knows there's something, but can't remember what it is!"

"Hi, Ed. You up all night again?" Spike asked as he walked by Ed and saw how tired and out of it she looked.

"Uh-uh. Ed is just really hungry and kind of mixed up."

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one who isn't exactly thrilled we're out of food, you know. Don't sweat it. We should be set by tonight. I think you'll last 'til then." Spike told Ed, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"That's what Jet said, too. But Ed's not so sure." Edward answered. She sounded serious, but by the end of her complaint, she was smiling again. Spike smiled back at her, then walked away.

Only a matter of seconds after he was out of sight, Faye, looking tense and hurried, came over to Ed, asking, "Have you seen Spike? And I'm in no mood for any games or riddles. Just give me a straight answer, got it? Yes or no?"

"Yes, Faye-Faye. Ed just talked to him. He went... that way." Edward replied, pointing in the direction Faye had just come from.

"Ed, that's the way I just came. I would have seen him if he went that way." Faye clenched her teeth in frustration.

"Oh. Maybe it was that way, then." Ed said, pointing in another wrong direction.

"Ed, now you're just pointing to a wall. Never mind. I'll find him myself. Even if I have to search the whole ship, it'll be faster than this. I should have known better than to ask you for help." Exasperated, Faye thought about it for a second, and then continued going straight forward. Yes, she was going the same way Spike had.

"Sorry. Ed didn't mean to get you lost, Faye-Faye." Ed apologized, not realizing that Faye had already left. She looked around, then realized she was alone.

"Faye-Faye? Ohh. Ed doesn't want her to be mad." Finally waking up a little, Ed decided to follow Faye. Amazingly, she went the right way.

After going through a couple of long corridors, Faye finally found Spike. When she first saw him, she stopped in her tracks.

"I, I don't believe it. This is... exactly where we were that day, too." she gasped, realizing they were in the hall that lead to where the smaller crafts were docked. Again, the emotional memories of that day six months earlier flashed through her mind. After standing there for a moment, shocked, she gathered her nerve again and approached Spike, who was leaning casually against a wall, lighting a cigarette.

"There you are. I've been looking for you." she said as she stepped in front of him.

"Thought you weren't speaking to me." Spike reminded Faye, glaring at her, then turning his head.

"I wasn't. But I decided that I have to talk to you about something." Faye replied, standing by the wall opposite Spike.

"Oh? And what would that be?'

"You know. Listen, I'm sorry I went too far the other night. But I had every right to be angry with you. And I still do." Faye's voice was steady, but tense.

"I'm not the one asking a million nosy questions I don't have any business asking, then getting offended because you don't want to answer them" Spike shoved his lighter back into his pocket and took a long drag off his cigarette. A few ashes fell at his feet.

"I'm not saying you can't be mad, too. But remember, I'm not the only one keeping all kinds of secrets from the only people left who care about me!" Faye replied angrily, taking a few steps closer to Spike.

"You're not keeping any secrets, eh? You could have fooled me. After all, you said you got your memory back. I don't exactly see you opening up about your past, either." Spike pointed out.

"I'd tell you about it. If I thought for one second that you'd actually care." Faye answered in a harsh whisper.

"Huh? Uh-oh. Looks like another fight. This isn't good at all. Maybe Edward should just talk to them later." Ed thought as Spike and Faye came into her view, although they were still at a distance from her. She began to turn back, but, drawn to what was going on, chose instead to just back up enough so the others wouldn't see her if they looked her way. They were still there, Spike seeming more focused on his cigarette than on Faye, Faye staring at Spike, waiting for an answer.

"Say something, Spike. You can yell at me, or tell me to leave you alone, anything. But don't just stand there and act as if you can't hear me." Faye insisted, looking down. Spike watched her, but didn't say a word.

"Answer me!" Faye demanded after a few seconds of tense silence. She lifted her head again and looked right at Spike.

"What is your problem, anyway? You've always had a bad attitude, but that chip on your shoulder seems bigger than ever lately." Spike told Faye coldly, letting his cigarette butt fall to the floor and crushing it with his right foot.

"_What? _You let us think you were dead for half a year, then one day you just come back acting as if nothing's happened, and you have the nerve to ask me what my problem is and tell me I'm the one with a bad attitude? What is _**wrong**_ with you, Spike Spiegel? You won't tell me where you've been all this time, or why you didn't come back until now, or how you even survived in the first place, so will you at least tell me what is the matter with you?" Faye demanded, tears forming in her eyes.

"Shut up! You shouldn't go around yelling and being so self righteous about things you don't understand at all, Faye!" Spike yelled, punching the wall.

"If you would just **talk** to me, then maybe I could understand. No, I'm not Julia, and I didn't know you back when you were in the syndicate. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be able to understand what's happened to you if you'd just tell me about it. Damn it, when I couldn't remember my past, weren't you the one who told me what mattered was that I had a future? Don't you think it's time you stopped dwelling on your past so much and thought about the future, or at least the present, for a change?" Faye snapped, her hands clenched into tight fists by her sides.

"No matter how much you don't understand, you still think you know everything, don't you?" Spike replied, facing the floor quickly, then staring straight into Faye's eyes.

"Insensitive bastard!" Faye cried angrily, slapping the left side of Spike's face as hard as she could.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" he growled, grabbing Faye's right shoulder roughly. She jerked away, raising her hand as if to slap Spike again. Instead, she impulsively threw her arms around him and kissed him.

"Faye, what...?" Spike began to ask, at a loss for words as the kiss ended and Faye, still holding onto him, leaned her head against his chest.

"You're right, Spike. There is a lot I don't understand about you, about what you've gone through. But there are plenty of things about me that you don't understand, either. I guess we're even." she said in a sad, whispery sigh.

"Now who's the one who won't talk? Come on. What was that about?" Spike questioned, shaking Faye lightly.

She looked up at him, tears running down her face, and said, "You know, sometimes, I really wish you weren't such an idiot." She shook her head, punched Spike's shoulder lightly, then ran off.

_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all who have r&r'ed for your encouraging words! They really mean a lot to me. And now, without further ado, the third and final chapter of "Bittersweet Rhapsody"!**

**Bittersweet Rhapsody**

**Part III**

"Hey, come back! Faye! Where are you going?" Spike called, starting to run after Faye, but stopping when he realized she'd already gone too far for him to catch up.

"I can't believe I just did that! It... happened so quickly. One minute, we were yelling at each other again. Then I slapped him. He deserved it, but I hadn't planned on doing that. And then..." Faye thought as she ran, tears blurring her vision. Images of what had just happened, of what she was running from, flooded her mind.

"Why? Of all the stupid things to do, why did I have to go and kiss him?" she asked herself.

"I can't take this! I've gotta get out of here for a while!" Faye yelled to no one in particular as she jumped into the Red Tail, brought the top down and soared away.

"Oh, wow. Faye-Faye..." Ed gasped, dazed by what she'd just seen. A smile on her face, she left her hiding place and headed over to Spike.

"Great. And just when I thought nothing Faye did could surprise me. I can't believe that just _happened_. Hmmm. Of course, now she runs away. Well, if Faye expects me to come flying after her, she's got another thing coming." Spike said to himself, watching as the Red Tail flew out of sight. Touching the side of his face that Faye had slapped, he turned to walk the other way... and nearly collided with Ed.

"Ed, what are you doing there? Oh, great. You saw everything, didn't you?" Spike groaned as he realized Ed had witnessed the entire scene.

"Uh-huh. Ed still can't believe it. Ed thought it was you, but this proves it. Faye-Faye wasn't making up all that mixed up stuff, either. Wow." Ed answered, giggling a tiny bit and still amazed.

"You mind explaining what a word you just said means? I don't feel like playing guessing games right now." Spike said, curious about what Ed was saying.

"Oh. Faye-Faye might not want Ed to tell you everything. Hmmm. Tell Ed something first. Do you understand why Faye acted like that? Do you know?" Ed replied, wanting to tell Spike everything she knew, but unsure if she should.

"Sort of. About as much as I understand _anything_ Faye does."

"Okay. Edward will help you. But remember, Ed was gone for a while, too, so there might be more that I don't know." Edward gave in, her smile getting a little bigger even though the look in her eyes was still unsure.

"Let's hear what you do know." Spike agreed.

"_Wehllll_... The night before the day you came back, Ed heard some noise one time. And it was Faye-Faye. She had a bad dream. I don't know exactly what it was about, but she was really upset. Talking in her sleep, saying stuff like, 'Who are you? Tell me now or I'll shoot!', and 'I thought I'd never see you again. This seems like it can't be real.' And she was crying when she woke up." Edward began to explain.

"Are you trying to tell me Faye's acting weird because she had a nightmare a few nights ago?" Spike asked skeptically, wishing Ed would get to the point.

"No, no, no! Let Ed finish. Faye-Faye looked really sad, but she seemed angry, too. And she kept talking about someone who was gone. Someone she said... it was like she was in love with, even though she hated him for making her cry. Ed asked who Faye-Faye was talking about, but she wouldn't say. After you came back, Ed tried again to get her to admit it, but she still wouldn't. Ed thought all along that it might be you she meant. But this proves it. Faye-Faye has been so mad, and Ed even saw when she hit you. But after that she _kissed_ you. Edward thought it sounded so silly at first. But it's all true. Spike, Faye-Faye loves you... even if she does hate you, too." Edward explained with a sweet smile.

"Uh-huh. Thanks for clearing everything up, Ed. Oh, and one more thing." Spike said, starting to walk away, but stopping short as everything Ed had just told him began to sink in.

"Yeah?" Ed looked curious.

"You said that lately, Faye keeps saying that you'll understand what she's been telling you once you're older. Well, don't believe her. I'm twice your age, and I think I understand that woman's motivations even less than you do." Spike warned, shaking his head a little, then smirking over his shoulder at Ed.

"Ohh!" Edward pouted after blinking in confusion a couple of times. Spike shook his head and started walking away again, heading towards the Swordfish.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Ed asked, recovering quickly from her little disappointment.

"Tell Jet to head the ship for the Lucky Star Casino, as planned. I'll meet up with you later. And if he wants to know where I am, just tell him... I went looking for a little bird that ran away from home so I could bring her back before she flies into a cage somewhere. Or makes friends with a predator." Spike instructed, climbing into his ship and pulling on the dark, fingerless gloves he always wore while piloting it.

"A bird? But Spike, aren't you going to look for Faye-Faye?" Ed called as the Swordfish flew away.

Realizing she hadn't been heard, Ed flopped down and said to herself, " Wow. Ed wonders what will happen next!"

Meanwhile, not very far away, Foxy and Saito were standing by one of their ship's windows, looking down at the Lucky Star Casino.

"Tonight's our big night, Foxy. You ready?" Saito asked, slipping his arm around Foxy's waist.

"I'm always ready." Foxy purred, nuzzling Saito. She tilted her chin up, ready to kiss him.

Before she had a chance, Aku and Yasue burst into the room, Yasue whooping, "Yeah! Tonight's the night! Advanced security system, my ass! We'll show 'em all! There ain't nothin' that can stop the Destroyers!"

"Yeah! We're all gonna be famous!" Aku exclaimed. The two brothers high fived each other and kept yelling and cheering loudly.

Turning to face them, Saito scowled and said, "Right. Long as you idiots don't go screw everythin' up by acting like your typically stupid selves. Speaking of which, where's Hajime? He needs to be told that as much as you do."

"In the cockpit. The autopilot system's still broke, remember?" Yasue answered.

Seeing the unhappy look on her lover's face, Foxy wrapped her arms around Saito's shoulders and cooed into his ear, "Don't worry. After tonight, we'll be able to get all the little problems this ship has fixed. Or, if we decide it has too many problems, we can always just get a new ship, can't we, honey?"

Grabbing Foxy's slender right wrist and smiling at her, Saito replied, "After tonight, we'll be able to buy anything we want, Fox. And I promise, I'm gonna get you a better engagement ring." Foxy raised her left hand, simultaneously showing off and studying the piece of jewelry she wore on her ring finger. It consisted of a simple, slightly tarnished gold band, with a red gem in the center of it. Around that gem were four silvery swirls, shaped to hold smaller jewels. Three gems were missing, but one swirl held a tiny diamond.

"Oh, Saito. I keep telling you, I don't want a new ring. I like this one." Foxy smiled at her ring.

"It's falling apart, and it wasn't the greatest ring to begin with. A beautiful lady like you deserves better than a piece of junk that's over a hundred years old." Saito grumbled, holding Foxy's left hand and staring at the ring with disgust.

"So it's an antique. It was originally your great grandmother's, right? Saito, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like new, more expensive jewelry. But I already have a nice collection of that, which I intend to expand. But when it comes to my engagement ring, my love, I'd rather have this... than any other." Foxy argued, running her left hand along Saito's face and starting to nuzzle him again.

His frown faded, and he said, "Whoa. Who'd have thought the infamous Foxy had a soft spot, huh? That you could be so sentimental over somethin' like a broken down old ring?"

Looking surprised, Foxy took a few steps away from Saito, and facing the floor, told him, "It means a lot to me because it's something you gave me, and it's been in your family for so long. That's all. Besides, everyone has kind of a secret side, ya know? Every man and woman alive has one. We all have things that about us that surprise those we're close to, and sometimes even ourselves."

"Hey, ya think they even realize we're still here?" Yasue asked Aku, poking him with one large elbow.

Rubbing his side where the much larger man had bumped him, Aku sneered and answered, "Nah. You kiddin'? Saito and the boss lady don't notice nobody when they get all philosophical like this." Aku was right. Saito and Foxy were completely lost in their own thoughts, and had forgotten that there were still two other people in the room.

Suddenly remembering his two brothers, Saito instructed, "Go on, you clowns. Don't just stand there all day. Tell Hajime to land the ship and get in here. We need to go over the plan one more time." Yasue and Aku nodded and left.

Meanwhile, Jet was saying to Ed, "There you are. Have you seen Spike? Or Faye? I can't find either of them anywhere, and we have to go over some things. Namely, how we're going to keep them from blowing our cover at the Lucky Star."

"Ed's seen them. But you won't find them here because they left."

"Huh? They left? Together? What, they needed a new place to yell at each other?"

"No. They had another fight, and Faye-Faye took off. Spike talked to Ed, and then he left, too. He said to tell you that he would meet up with us at the casino later, and that he was going to look for a bird that flew away from home before she could get into trouble. Ed didn't understand why Spike left to look for birds when Faye was really upset and she might be in trouble somewhere."

"I think he was talking about Faye, Ed. You know, a metaphor? Never mind. Did either of them say anything more about where they were going than _**that**_?" Jet said sourly.

"Uh-uh. Ed already told you everything that Spike said, and Ed didn't have a chance to talk to Faye-Faye before she left. They didn't know that Ed saw the fight. And she probably wouldn't have wanted to talk about it, anyway. No. Faye-Faye definitely wouldn't want to tell you about what happened between her and Spike. Hmmmmm. But Ed will tell you and Ein, if you'd like to know."

"Ed, I've heard Spike and Faye argue a million times. About every possible subject. I'm really not interested." Jet answered, rolling his eyes.

"Right. But has Faye-Faye ever hit him before today?"

"Several times. Starting with the day she first invited herself to live here, when he walked in on her in the shower. So there's nothing special about that, either. And things have been especially tense between those two lately, so it doesn't surprise me that she decided to belt him again." Jet said, laughing a bit at the memory.

"Yeah, but have you ever seen them _kiss_?" Edward asked teasingly, starting to tiptoe away. She was sure that Jet would want to hear what she was saying now.

"Well, no. That I never... What? What did you just say? You saw them kiss? Ed, are you seeing things? You haven't even missed two meals. You can't be hallucinating from hunger. Are you sure you didn't just fall asleep and dream all this?" Jet asked skeptically. At first, he seemed bored and not very interested. Then, once he realized what Ed had just told him, he looked shocked, eyes bulging.

"No. Ed was awake when Ed saw it. And Spike person and Faye-Faye aren't here right now, are they?" Edward pointed out, twirling around to face Jet again.

"Well, that much is true. And for now, I guess I'll just have to assume that the rest of this nonsense is, too." Jet agreed, shaking his head and still taking everything in.

"So, what do you think will happen next? What does it mean?" Edward asked suddenly, looking up at Jet and waiting for an answer.

"I can't believe I'm standing here gossiping with you like this. And to answer your question, it means if those two don't show up at the Lucky Star, I'm not sharing any money I earn with either of them. If they don't do any work, they aren't entitled to a share of the profits. Beyond that matter, I have no idea what the little scene you witnessed might mean, Ed. It is _them _we're talking about, after all." Jet replied. Ed didn't say anything else; just stood there, thinking it all over.

Finally, Jet said, "Ed, can you take Ein for a while? He's driving me crazy, following me everywhere with his dish in his mouth. I keep telling him we don't have any food, and that it's not going to kill him to wait a few more hours. But this dog listens about as well as you do when I try to tell you the same thing." He glanced warily over his shoulder at Ein. Sure enough, the Welsh Corgi was sitting there, blue bowl held tightly in his teeth, staring up at Jet pitifully.

"Sure. Come on, Ein. You can keep Ed company for a while. Bye-bye, Jet!" Ed quickly agreed, starting to lead Ein away by the collar. Ein was reluctant at first, but then pulled free from Ed's grip on his collar and followed her, more or less willingly.

Jet went off in the opposite direction, thinking, "And just when I thought those two couldn't **possibly **make this situation any harder on themselves. I shouldn't be surprised, though. After all, try giving Faye some sensible advice, and you oughta expect her to go and do the exact opposite. Spike left after Faye did so he could bring her back before she got in any trouble. Ha! Now that's a laugh. If I know either of them half as well as I think I do, that just means both of them will be in some sort of trouble before the day's over. I just hope it doesn't also mean I'll have to get the two of them out of whatever mess they get themselves into." He sighed and muttered, "No matter how much some things change, others never do."

It wasn't night yet, but the sky was beginning to grow darker. Outside the Lucky Star Casino, a large crowd had already gathered, waiting for the grand opening.

Amongst the many others was Judy, saying into her microphone, "And here we are, folks. Live at the Lucky Star. Of course, I've _been_ giving updates from here all day. But, while there hasn't been much to report 'til now, with the reopening less than an hour away, things are finally starting to get exciting 'round here. In fact, I think I see... Yes! It's the owner of the casino, Mr. Henri Andre!"

A middle-aged, medium height, skinny man with salt and pepper hair and a matching mustache had just come out of the building, surrounded by a small group of security guards. A flood of reporters charged towards him, all pushing and shoving one another to get there first.

"No, ya don't! Move! I **need **to get the first interview!" Judy growled, roughly pushing back another female reporter. Doing this got her to the front of the commotion, closer to Henri Andre than any of the others.

Shoving her microphone at him, Judy smiled sweetly and asked, "Mr. Andre, your casino is about to reopen after being closed for more than a year. How do you feel?"

"Well, I couldn't be happier about it." he answered.

Judy was about to ask another question, but before she had a chance, the woman she'd pushed yanked her backwards, took the front spot, and, pushing her own microphone towards the casino owner, asked, "Mr. Andre, the Lucky Star is infamous for the amount of times it's been robbed. By now, everyone's heard about the new security system you've installed. Do you truly believe this system can live up to all the hype, and that it will be able to protect your establishment from now on?"

"Oh, yes. After all, I'm the person behind all this so called hype. I wouldn't say the new system was impenetrable if I didn't have full confidence that it was true." Henri replied, puffing out his chest like a proud bird.

"And what do you say to those who believe that boasting about the new security system is practically sending an invitation to criminals to attempt to bypass it?" inquired a sandy haired male reporter dressed similarly to the dark haired woman. They were obviously from the same station.

"I realize I may be pressing my luck by bragging so much. But here is my message to everyone who might be enticed to try their luck against the system. Just you go ahead and try it, scumbags. There are traps and alarms all over the Lucky Star, the majority of which aren't even visible to the naked eye. Even if someone managed to disarm one or two things, they would set off at least another half dozen in the process. If they weren't stopped by one of the traps, the alarms would alert our many new security guards, who would immediately apprehend the offenders." Henri explained.

"Mr. Andre! Is it also true that there are hidden cameras all over the casino, including in the restrooms?" shouted a reporter from further back in the crowd.

Embarrassed and caught off guard, the casino owner cleared his throat and nervously said, "Naturally, the new system includes several monitors. But I assure you, they are all... strategically placed in various locations throughout the building, and all are purely for safety purposes _only_."

"Mr. Andre! After the string of robberies, your casino was about to file bankruptcy before the fire last year. How did you ever get the money to rebuild, yet alone pay for all the new security equipment and personnel? It's rumored that you have connections to various crime syndicates. Any truth to this?" asked a man near the front of the group.

"Absolutely not! I was able to do all this thanks to some good friends and businessmen - _legitimate _businessmen - who happen to believe that my casino has a lot of potential, despite my previous misfortunes!" Henri yelled, growing even more nervous and insulted. He was silent for a few seconds, then waved his arms in disgust and shouted, "That's it! I'm sorry, but those are all the questions I'm answering today." With that, he turned and walked back into his casino, accompanied by his group of security guards.

There were many shouts of, "Wait!", "Mr. André!", "Henri!", "Just one more question!", and, "Please just let me ask you one more thing!" from the vast assortment of media personalities, but it was useless. Henri Andre had retreated into the sanctuary of his establishment, and two security guards, large men with appropriately large guns, were standing outside the doors, ready to stop anyone who tried to follow him. The reporters kept up their yelling and shoving a bit longer, then realized there was no point and began to leave, groaning and grumbling. Judy, who'd been shoved almost to the back of the frenzy, threw her microphone to the ground in disgust.

A few streets away, in a slightly rundown old building, Faye was sitting at a bar, complaining to the bartender, "My life is such a mess. Ya know, I heard you and your wife talking before. About how business has been a little slow lately, and you aren't sure if you'll be able to take the big vacation you were planning. Ha! I wish I had your kind of problems, pal."

"Oh? Care to talk about what's wrong? I'm a very good listener, you know." the man said, stepping a bit closer to Faye and touching her hand.

She pulled back, glared at him and said, "I don't go into details about my personal problems with strangers. Besides, if you were hoping to hear a juicy story, I don't have one. Nope. I'm just completely broke, and I had a huge fight with some idiot I know before I came here."

The bartender was about to reply, but before he had a chance, an angry looking woman came up behind him, scolding, "We have other customers, you know. Hmmmphh. It's because you spend so much time flirting with every pretty bimbo who walks in here that we're losing business. People don't like to sit around waiting while the bartender tries to pick up girls half his age. Now go!"

"Yes, dear. Whatever you say." the bartender reluctantly agreed, heaving an unhappy sigh as he headed for the other end of the long bar.

His wife, a woman with brown hair streaked with gray and tied in a bun, adjusted her apron, turned to Faye and snapped, "I hate it when women like you come in here. All pouty about every little problem in your lives, and willing to pour your hearts out to any man who'll give you the time of day. And of course, my husband can't resist a pretty face with tears in her eyes."

"Ugh. Do I really look like I've been crying?" Faye asked miserably, trying to study her reflection in her half - empty glass.

The other woman leaned forward to study her, and, after a moment, explained, "Your eyes aren't all red and puffy, if that's what you mean. You just... have this certain sad, pitiful look about you. When you've dealt with as many people comin' in to drown their sorrows as I have, you just sort of recognize it without even trying. But don't worry. It's nothing an average person would see."

Glancing at the nametag on the woman's apron, Faye smiled a little and said, "That's the first good news I've had all day. Thanks, Mildred."

"Anytime. Hmmphh. But don't think that means _I _wanna hear your sob story, okay?" Mildred smiled back at Faye for a second before regaining her harsh expression.

"You don't wanna hear my story? Fine with me. Like I already told your husband, I'm not in the mood to tell it, anyway." Faye replied quickly, sounding annoyed.

"Good.'Cause neither of us has time to waste making small talk with troublemakers." Mildred snapped, sounding even more annoyed. She started to walk away, then called over her shoulder, "You heard me and my husband talking about our financial problems, right? Well, I heard you saying you were completely broke. Sorry, but having a bad day doesn't mean you get free drinks around here. And we only let people who've been loyal customers for years have tabs. If you can't pay, you'll just have to help me wash dishes." With that, she went to yell at her husband, who was now talking to a pretty young blonde woman.

"Yechh. No way. Especially not after the day I've had. Hmmm. With any luck, I can sneak out while the old witch isn't looking..." Faye thought. She quickly swallowed the rest of her drink, then stood up and looked around. None of the other customers were paying any attention to her. Most were caught up in their own conversations or thoughts, and some were staring at Mildred and her husband, who were now having a loud argument. Seeing her chance, Faye started to make a run for the exit... and collided with a very large man.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she yelled, grabbing onto a table to keep from falling.

"Easy, sweetheart, easy. _You _were the one who crashed into my brother, after all. If you were a guy, we'd have to beat the crap outta ya. But lucky for you, you happen to be a pretty lady instead. Heh heh. Lucky for you... and for us." said a man who resembled the first, but was shorter and not nearly as muscular. He was staring at Faye lecherously. A matching look on his face, the larger man made a grab for her arm.

"Well, if you creeps are hoping to _get_ lucky, I'm afraid you're going to be very disappointed. I really don't go for men who threaten me. And if you think you're scaring me, ha ha. I'm even less intimidated than I am impressed." Faye replied, standing up straight and scowling at the two men defiantly. She didn't realize it at the time, but she was looking right at Aku and Yasue Akiyama of the Destroyers.

"Whoa. You're a feisty one, ain't ya? Well, sweetheart, it just so happens that I like temperamental girls best. C'mere." Yasue continued, grabbing Faye's left wrist and pulling her towards him.

"Hey, you big ape! Let me go! " she ordered, trying to get free. However, Yasue was too strong, and held on tightly.

"Calm down, sweetheart. I already told ya, we'd never hurt a babe like you." Aku said flirtingly, reaching for Faye's right wrist.

"And I already told you to back off!" Unlike his larger brother, Faye easily pushed Aku away. Seeing this, Yasue started laughing and absentmindedly loosened his grip a little. This gave Faye a chance to get free from him.

Backing up a few steps, she pulled out her Glock and said coldly, "Don't mess with me. Got it, boys?"

Really getting angry now, Yasue grabbed Faye's shoulder and, sneering, asked, "You think you scare me with _that_ little toy?" With his free hand, he began to slowly remove something from his dark jacket. Even before he had finished pulling the silvery gun out, Faye could see that it was more than twice the size of hers.

She gasped as the big man whispered, "And this is only the beginning of the heat we carry, understand? So I suggest you start being a lot nicer to us."

Aku snickered nastily, but before he could say anything, an angry male voice hollered, "What the hell do you think you're doing, you morons?"Aku and Yasue turned their heads to see a furious Saito. He had his arm around Foxy, and standing behind the two of them was Hajime Yukino, a man about Yasue's size, with an even stupider look about him.

When his brothers didn't answer him, Saito stormed over to them, yelling, "What, you want the whole place's attention? You want somebody to call the cops because you need to pull a weapon on a woman to feel like a real man? God, I can't leave you ignorant jerks alone for two seconds, can I?" Yasue quickly put away his gun, but neither he nor Aku said a word. After a few seconds, Yasue realized that Saito was glaring at him because he still had his hand roughly gripping Faye's shoulder.

"Oh, sorry. Boss, really. We weren't tryin' to cause any trouble. This lady crashed right into us, and..." Aku started to explain as Yasue finally released Faye, who staggered backwards a couple of steps.

"You know, whatever stupid story you're gonna tell, I really don't wanna hear it right now. So just shut up and go sit down, okay?" Saito instructed, no longer looking at his brothers. Yasue quickly headed over to one of the small pub's six tables. Aku muttered something inaudible, but followed.

"I apologize for my stupid brothers. You alright, Miss?" Saito said with a sigh, turning to Faye.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But do me a favor and try to keep them on leashes from now on, okay?" Faye grumbled, putting her gun away and rubbing her left shoulder.

"Trust me, if I could find leashes the big one wouldn't break and the little snake couldn't slither out of, I'd have done it years ago." Saito laughed.

"That's a pretty lame joke. But thanks for saving - I mean _helping- _me, anyway." Faye replied.

"Of course. You're very welcome." Foxy said, giving Faye a warm smile. "It's no surprise my future brothers-in law are still single. Besides all the other ways they were rude to you, even those imbeciles should know that you never call a woman you've just met 'sweetheart'. Yes, I definitely got the only good one of the bunch." She nuzzled Saito a bit, and he quickly kissed her.

"Yechh." Faye muttered, turning away from the affectionate couple in disgust.

"Is something wrong? Are you sure you weren't hurt?" Foxy asked with concern.

"I might have a few bruises, but I've lived through a lot worse, so don't sweat it. Don't take this the wrong way, but... my problem is that if I have to watch you and your boyfriend be all happy and lovey dovey for another second, I think I'm gonna be sick." Faye complained, starting to walk past Foxy and Saito.

"Come on, Fox. Forget her. Let's get this over with and get out of here." Saito urged, starting to lead his fiancée to where Aku and Yasue were seated.

"No. I feel a little bad for her. I'll just be a minute." Foxy insisted, following Faye, who had almost reached the exit.

"Miss, please wait a moment. I am sorry for the way my fiancé's brothers treated you. And I'm certainly sorry that our little display bothered you so much. I'm usually too shy to be so open and affectionate with him in public. Silly, huh? Guess I picked a bad day to get over my inhibitions, didn't I?" Foxy apologized, sounding very sincere as she gently grabbed Faye's arm.

"Sorry. I have to get out of here. Not because of you. Just because... of a little disagreement with the bartender's wife." Faye answered quickly.

"You can stay for another few minutes, can't you? They're having a big fight about something, so I doubt they'll notice. They never even looked this way once when all the commotion was going on. Come on. Won't you at least let us buy you a drink to make up for how Aku and Yasue treated you?"

Faye thought it over for a second, then, turning to face Foxy, said, "Well, the disagreement with old Mildred was about my being unable to pay my bill. And I was leaving a little sooner than I actually wanted to because of that. Hmmm. In other words, I accept your offer." She smiled at Foxy and stuck out her hand. Smiling back, Foxy laughed a little and shook it.

Not far away, Spike was piloting the Swordfish towards the Lucky Star Casino, thinking," I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Faye went. I'm sure she forgot that we're supposed to be working, but she's probably here just the same." The image of the kiss flashed through his mind, followed by Faye taking off afterwards.

"And just when I thought I'd seen everything. What was that about, Faye?" Spike sighed, shaking his head.

On the ground, Jet was handcuffing a punk who was complaining, "Awww, man. You again. If I'd known this was gonna happen, I never would've bothered to bust outta jail in the first place." Sure enough, this was the same small time thug Jet and Faye had captured three days earlier. The guy with the blonde mohawk and a nosering in each nostril.

"Well, let that be a lesson to you. This time, just stay put and make it easier on all of us. Now, get in there with the others." Jet instructed, giving the whiny crook a push into the Bebop. He wound up in the living room, where three other men and two women were also handcuffed. Some were tied to chairs (as this fool had recently been himself), and two of the men were tied together.

"Hello again. Ed remembers you from before. Teehee!" said Edward, who was hanging upside down from the ladder that lead to the next level of the ship.

"Oh, no. Not this freaky kid again!" the crook grumbled as Jet cuffed him to the ladder. Ed jumped to the floor, and Ein came over, barking loudly.

"Wow. Six bad guys. We're doing a good job, huh, Jet person?" Ed commented, looking around the room and studying the captured criminals.

"The whole lot of them put together aren't worth the bounty on even one member of the Destroyers. But I'm not complaining. Round up enough of these riffraff, and it all adds up eventually." Jet said, also looking the prisoners over. While not quite as happy with them as Ed was, he did seem satisfied with the job he'd done.

"Hmmphh. The Destroyers. All anyone talks about these days. Like they're such hot stuff. It's only 'cause of dumb luck they haven't been caught yet, ya know." complained the crook handcuffed to the ladder.

"Yeah. And seeing how dumb they all are, it's no surprise they have so much dumb luck, huh?" snapped a woman who was tied back to back with a skinny, rather nervous looking young man. The woman who'd made the comment laughed, as did all of the other bounty heads, except for that skinny guy.

"Tell me about it. I met that Foxy broad once. Let me tell ya, she shoulda been an actress instead of a thief. She can convince anyone she's the sweetest, most innocent thing in the world. But without the four guys around, she probably couldn't pull off a convenience store robbery." commented the other woman.

"Yer all fulla crap. I've had a couple run-ins with that group of punks myself. And while I don't exactly like any of 'em, they're good at what they do. And the babe, Foxy or Wolfie or whatever her name is... She's more capable with her weapons than any man I've ever known." argued the oldest crook, a bearded man with sunglasses.

"Yeah. Bet you're just jealous 'cause Foxy's cuter than you." said another of the men.

"Shut up!" shouted the woman tied to a chair.

"Don't tell my boyfriend to shut up, you slut!" yelled the woman tied to the skinny guy.

"Oh, God, I can't believe how much trouble I'm in. No way my parents will bail me out this time! 'If you get arrested one more time, you're out of the will.' That's what my father told me. And here I am, on my way to the slammer again. Ohhhhhhh." wailed the skinny man.

"Aw, shove it, preppy! Nobody wants to hear your whinin'!" yelled another man.

"Of all the lousy luck. I'm on this fallin' apart old ship again, on my way back to prison, and surrounded by more freaks than ever. And that babe in the hot pants isn't even here this time. What's the matter, baldie? She dump ya or something?" said the crook handcuffed to the ladder.

"Grrr. I thought I told you, Faye and I work together, and _at best_ you'd say we're friends." Jet grumbled.

"That's right. Spike is the one Faye Faye loves... except there's a problem. You see, she also hates him. Doesn't that sound odd to you, Mr. Criminal? It sounds very strange to Ed, but it all seems to be true." Edward explained, looking up at the crook and waiting for his thoughts on the subject.

"Ed, you shouldn't go telling stories like that to strangers. If Spike or Faye ever found out.." Jet began to lecture.

Before he could get any further, the man with the dark glasses nastily commented, "Yeah, it does sound kinda weird. But with you people involved, that doesn't surprise me."

"What are you doin', tryin' to make friends with 'em or somethin'?" snarled one of the other men.

"Hey, I didn't _ask_ the kid to come bug me!" snapped the guy Ed was still sitting in front of. Within seconds, all the crooks were hollering at each other.

"Ugh. Thanks so much for inspiring them to get louder, Ed. They really weren't making enough noise before." Jet said sarcastically.

Not realizing Jet was being sarcastic, Ed jumped up, cheerfully replying with, "You're welcome, Jet person. So, do you think we should try to find any more bad guys?"

Before Jet could answer, Ed brought up some more wanted posters on her computer screen, saying, "Ed thinks Ed has seen someone who looks like this today... There are a couple of women who look kind of like this lady... No, Ed hasn't seen anyone who looks like this person..."

"Huh? You actually think we might be able to get somebody else? I don't know, Ed. Between us rounding up **this **bunch of losers, and the few dozen people I've seen security haul away, I doubt there are many criminals left around here. At least, none with any kind of previous record, which means they wouldn't have bounties on their heads, making them useless to us."

"Okay. Does this mean Ed can play Ed's game now?"

"What? Oh, sure. Go ahead." Jet replied, barely able to hear Ed over the voices of the bickering thieves.

"You're pathetic, ya know that? I bet you wouldn't be able to track down a single bounty head without the little kid around to help you." one of the men told Jet with a sneer.

"Hmmphh. I'm pathetic, huh? Well, seeing how _I'm_ the one who captured you and tied you up, I guess that makes you even more pathetic, doesn't it?" Jet pointed out. The man who'd made the nasty comment grumbled a little and gave Jet another dirty look, but didn't bother saying anything else. Some of the other punks, including the two women, started laughing.

The skinny, nervous guy, sounding as if he were about to hyperventilate, started yelling, "I can't believe I'm in so much trouble! My family will disown me!" over and over again.

"If I weren't tied to you, I'd be glad to beat you up so badly, your precious family wouldn't be able to recognize you! Then I guess you wouldn't have to worry about being disowned, would you?" the woman he was tied back to back with screeched.

"Oh, come on! I know the weasel's annoying, but can't ya see he's just a spoiled, scared kid? How desperate _are_ you to prove you're tough?" snapped the other woman.

"Betcha wouldn't have the guts to say that if I had a free hand!" the first woman shot back.

"Hey, bimbo! Don't threaten my daughter!" ordered the oldest man. With that, all the crooks returned to yelling at the same time. Ein growled, and then began barking louder than before.

"Save it, Ein. I'm not wasting any more time or energy on trying to shut them up, and you shouldn't bother with it, either." Jet said, shaking his head in disgust and covering his ears. Ein looked up at Jet quizzically, but stopped barking. Ed, completely caught up in her computer game now, was oblivious to all the noise.

"Really, whatever made any of those morons think they could get past a super advanced security system? I'd be surprised if the smartest of them could outwit a mousetrap!" Jet sighed as he and Ein walked towards the cockpit.

Realizing the dog was following him, Jet turned to Ein and apologized, "Sorry, boy. I hate to do this to you, but I don't trust these people to be completely unsupervised for even a minute. So I need you to be on guard duty while I go put the ship on autopilot and set a course for the nearest police department. Don't worry; it'll just take a minute or two. In the meantime, you keep an eye on things, and let me know if any of them, including Ed, misbehave at all. Okay?" Ein whimpered and stared up at Jet pitifully.

"Give me a break, Ein. I told you, it won't take long. Now go." Jet instructed. Ein obediently turned and headed back to the other room, but continued to look sullen about it.

Even as he continued to walk away, Jet heard someone yelling, "Shut up!", and three or four other voices answering, "No, **you** shut up!" After that, Jet was far away enough from the voices that, while he could still hear them yelling, the words were no longer audible. Again, he wondered what had ever given any of these people the idea that they could get past the casino's security system.

Down on the ground, Spike was looking through the crowd, thinking, "They must not be letting anyone in yet. Look at all these people. Great. How am I supposed to find Faye in this crowd?"

Of course, Spike wasn't going to find Faye in the crowd at all, because she was still in the small, nearby pub, talking with Foxy and Saito.

"I don't get it. Why are they sitting there with her all this time?" grumbled Aku, who was sitting with Yasue and Hajime at a table next to where the other three were seated.

"Maybe Foxy's sick of being the only dame around here, so she's tryin' to convince this one to come with us." suggested Yasue, gulping down about half the contents of a large beer mug.

"Sheesh, I hope not. I admit, she's hot, but what a lousy attitude on her!" Aku complained, practically inhaling a full mug.

"Relax. The five of us are doing fine. Foxy and Saito wouldn't want to risk screwing things up by bringing in a new recruit now. They're just being nice to that woman to make up for what you creeps did." Hajime told them with a laugh.

"Yeah, fine. But I'm mad. They lectured us about wanting to come here. Said it would take too much time, and we'd get to the casino later than they wanted to. But just look at the king and queen, chattin' it up like we had all the time in the world." Aku snapped, sneering.

"Eh, they were probably just usin' the time as an excuse to be nice to you. I bet the real reason they didn't wanna stop here was that they figured you'd get tanked and be even more useless than usual, squirt." Yasue commented. He and Hajime both laughed, and Aku's scowl became even harsher and more unpleasant.

"Couldn't be any more useless than you, ya dumb ox." he muttered.

At the next table, Saito was staring over at his accomplices, complaining, "Those jerks. I'd better get over there before they start one of their stupid fights and cause another scene." He got up and marched over to the other table angrily.

"While it's just us, how about a little girl talk? You don't mind, do you?" Foxy suggested, tapping Faye's hand and giving her a friendly smile.

Looking up from her glass, but not directly at Foxy, Faye said, "Don't you think we should at least know each other's names before we ask one another a lot of nosy questions?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry. In all the confusion, I didn't realize we never got around to that. My name's Foxy."

"And mine is Faye. So, Foxy, what else do you want to know?"

"I know it's a bit forward, but... did you have a fight with your lover? Is that what you're so upset about?"

"First of all, that's way more than 'a bit forward'. Second, I don't currently have a lover. And, if you're asking me that because you want to fix me up with one of your fiancé's loser brothers, forget it. I may be a little drunk, but I'm not delusional." Faye replied dryly.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't do that to anyone. No. It's just that... what you said before sounded familiar to me. You know, when you said it was making you sick to watch Saito and me. Before I met him, that's exactly how I felt whenever I saw happy couples together. You see, up 'til then, I hadn't had the greatest luck with men myself. So my heart kind of went out to you when you said that." Foxy explained.

"I see. Well, I appreciate the sympathy, I suppose, but I don't need it. So what if I don't have a fabulous relationship like yours? Who cares? I'm not some pathetic little thing who's going to fall to pieces just because she's _single_. Hmmph. But enough about me. It's my turn to invade your privacy, Miss Foxy. So, how long have you and your Prince Charming been engaged?" Faye stretched a little and studied Foxy's ring.

"About three months. This ring originally belonged to my Saito's great grandmother. He hates it. Always complaining that it's a falling apart piece of junk, and apologizing for not waiting to propose until he could give me a better one. We've... come into some money these past few months, and every day, he tries to talk me into letting him get me a new one. And every day, I tell him no. I'll let you know a secret, Faye. No, this is not the most extravagant piece of jewelry I own. But it will always be my favorite." Foxy held her left hand tightly to her heart, smiling contently. Faye turned her head quickly and gave the floor a hard kick.

"I'm sorry. I've upset you again. You know, you deny it, but it's obvious you feel lonely. Of course, it may just seem obvious to me because I was an expert on that subject myself for so long. Don't worry. No one is meant to be all alone forever. Whatever it is you're looking for, a mate, or maybe just a reliable friend, you're bound to find them someday. So you shouldn't be so sad." Foxy advised, noticing Faye's gloomy expression.

"That's a sweet thing to say, even if it is also incredibly naive. Somehow, I doubt anyone who can say that with a straight face was ever half as lonely as you say you were, but whatever. So, when's your wedding?"

"We haven't set an exact date yet. But we do plan on getting married very soon." For a moment, neither of the women spoke.

Then, Faye swallowed what was left of her drink, turned to Foxy and said, "I haven't even known you for an hour, but I already envy the hell out of you. Your boyfriend gives you fancy presents, and from the sound of it, he'd give you the stars if he could. Unless headaches and more worries than any one person needs count, Spike has never given me anything!" She looked very serious for about a second, then started laughing hysterically. Foxy stared at her briefly, then began laughing as well.

Speaking of Spike, he was leaning against the Swordfish, thinking, "She wasn't there. Even though I couldn't find her in the crowd outside, I was sure that once they'd cut the ribbon and started letting people in, I'd see her somewhere. But I've searched the whole building twice, and there's no sign of Faye. I know she claimed to be broke again, but even if that was true, it's not the kind of thing that normally deters her from gambling. She must be a lot more upset than I realized to miss out on the opening of an enormous casino like this. So, there goes plan A. Where are you, Faye? And why can't you ever make _anything_ easy?"

Back in the bar, Saito was still in the middle of an argument with his brothers and Hajime. At the next table, Foxy and Faye each had new drinks, and were laughing and talking as if they were old friends.

"Gee, how much have I had to drink, anyway? I'm actually starting to enjoy myself. It's not something I normally think about, but I guess it is good to be able to talk about this kinda stuff with another woman once in a while. And she seems nice enough. She's definitely lucky. Between the cash and the great guy, I'd have to say Foxy's only problem is that she's a little on the plain side. And even that probably wouldn't be an issue if she'd lose the glasses and not dress like a librarian. Hmm. Foxy looks so familiar to me, but I just can't place her. Ha! Maybe she's the granddaughter of one of my old high school friends. Yeah, that's probably it. She looks familiar because she reminds me of someone I knew in another life. Ohh! Here I go making myself crazy with all this again. Stop it, Faye! You have enough problems at the moment without creating more for yourself. It's just because her looks are kind of average. That's why I feel like I've seen her before. Hmmphhh. And that name doesn't suit her at all. Someone who calls herself _Foxy_ should not go around wearing such old fashioned clothes and a simple ponytail." Faye thought, studying Foxy as the other woman watched the table full of arguing men.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, and a group of three men and two muscular, well toned women, all in biker jackets with flames on them, barged in. Foxy turned her head to look.

"Oh, no! The Wildfires!" she gasped.

"Huh? What did you just say?" Faye asked.

"Never mind. It's nothing." Foxy lied quickly.

She was thinking, "It's alright. As long as the guys stay caught up in their own fight, they won't realize the Wildfires are here. And as long as the Wildfires don't see them, we'll be fine. We have to leave soon, anyway. Everything's alright."

"Nothing, huh? Then why do you look so freaked out? Who are those guys, Foxy?" Faye questioned, eyeing the newcomers suspiciously.

"They're members of a dangerous gang called the Wildfires. Just try to ignore them, and with any luck, they'll do the same for us." Foxy advised, turning her gaze to the floor.

"The Wildfires, eh? I've heard of them. I understand there's a decent bounty on that gang." Faye said, turning in her chair to get a better look at the Wildfires.

"There are rewards being offered for them in three different star systems, the smallest of which is 10,000,000 woolongs. Next to their rivals, the Destroyers, they're currently the most notorious criminals in the universe. You'd think they'd be a little more discreet, but the members of the Wildfires are flamboyant idiots. They never go anywhere without those jackets displaying their logo, their sign." Foxy whispered, unable to keep a little of her contempt for the rival gang from creeping into her voice.

"Fine with me. Stupid crooks are usually the easiest to catch, after all." Faye said, starting to pull out her gun.

"I probably can't take them all on by myself, but hey, just the reward for one or two of these thugs is a lot more than what I have now!" she thought with a smirk.

"What are you saying?" Foxy asked, startled by the sight of the weapon in Faye's hand.

"That's right. Our conversation never got around to what either of us does for a living, did it? Well, Foxy, I happen to be a bounty hunter." Faye explained, standing up.

At the next table, Aku started yelling at Saito, "Oh, yeah? So maybe I'm not the damn genius of the family. But if you're so smart, how come you couldn't hack into the casino's main computer and disarm the whole system in advance? Huh? How come we gotta be the stupid diversion as usual while you and Foxy shut it down manually?"

"Shut up, moron! You want the whole place to hear ya?" Saito growled, slamming his brother's head against the table. Then, he looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Dammit! We shoulda been out of this dump an hour ago! Foxy, forget the girl and let's go! Come on, goofballs. Up!" he yelled, his concern for keeping his voice down disappearing when he realized that the Lucky Star had already opened by now. Aku, Yasue and Hajime obediently rose to their feet, Aku still glaring at his brother, and started to head for the door. Foxy, on the other hand, was still watching Faye closely, and didn't even seem to hear Saito.

"Foxy, what's wrong? I realize most bounty hunters are men, but it's not all **that** unusual a profession for a woman these days. Why do you look so stunned? The way you're staring at me, you'd think there was a bounty on _your_ head." Faye commented, confused by the surprised and slightly panicked expression on Foxy's face. And, as she said those words, it all came back to her. She knew exactly why Foxy had seemed so familiar to her all this time.

"Don't be fooled by her harmless appearance. According to all the reports, Foxy carries a wide assortment of weapons under her clothes, and isn't a bit shy about being the first to open fire. It isn't confirmed, but she's even suspected of being co-ringleader with Saito." That was what the ISSP officer had said as pictures of the five Destroyers had flashed by on Ed's computer screen. Saito, Aku, and Yasue Akiyama, Hajime Yukino, and Foxy.

"You're..." Faye gasped as the realization sunk in fully. Foxy blushed for a second, then started chuckling softly.

"I'm wanted throughout the entire universe. Surely you've seen my wanted poster at least a few times. Tsk tsk. You must be a pretty pathetic bounty hunter, Faye. No wonder you couldn't even afford to drown your sorrows in this dump. You're no threat to us at all. I'm even tempted to let you live." she said, standing up and undoing the top two buttons on her blouse.

"Oh, yeah?" Faye raised her gun and aimed it at Foxy.

"Yeah, I am. But one of the first things I learned when I got into this business is to never take chances with people who can turn on you. Even if they are losers who pose no real threat." Foxy pulled a silver revolver out of her shirt, and the two women stared at each other for a tense second that seemed to go on forever. With no hesitation and a cold smile on her face, Foxy fired a shot, and a bullet whizzed by Faye's head, just missing her.

"You got out of the way at the last possible second. You didn't think I'd actually shoot to kill, did you? Ha. That's a very dangerous, incorrect assumption a lot of people have made about me." Foxy said calmly.

Before Faye could react, old Mildred started yelling, "Hey! There's no gunfire allowed in here! Take it somewhere else, tramps!" The two women from the Wildfires laughed.

Then, the one with the longer hair pushed Faye to the side and said, "So, Foxy old girl, we meet again. Didn't you hear the old woman? We aren't allowed to use our guns in here. Luckily, I know a few other ways to deal with you." She reached into a pocket of her tight pants and proceeded to pull out a long dagger.

"Hey! You can't just push me around like that! That does it. You're coming with me!" Faye yelled angrily, grabbing the woman's wrist and trying to handcuff her.

"You made me drop my favorite weapon! Sorry, but I can't go anywhere with you right now, chick! I've got too much to do right here, so find somebody else to play with!" the redhead growled. She elbowed Faye hard in the ribs, pushing her away.

"Ow! You'll pay for that, you bitch!" Faye yelled, recovering quickly and grabbing her gun again.

"You think I'm scared? Ha!" Foxy scoffed, pulling off her left earring and tossing it towards the woman from the Wildfires.

"What the hell was _that_ supposed to be? You really are going soft, ain't ya? Good joke, Foxy, good..." the woman laughed as the earring sailed past her. Before she could finish her sentence, it hit a wall... which promptly exploded.

"Run!" someone screamed.

"Oh my God! There's a fire!" another person yelled. A loud alarm started going off, drowning out several other shouts. There weren't many people in the bar besides Faye and the two rival gangs, but the small group there was all scrambled for the exit, pushing, shoving and yelling. In the crowd, Faye noticed Mildred, being dragged out by her husband.

"Let me go! I have to stop these scum from destroying our place!" she screeched over the noise.

"I must have had more to drink than I thought. I feel... kind of dizzy." Faye mumbled, starting to lose her balance. Coughing and grabbing onto a table to steady herself, she thought, "No, it's this thick smoke from the fire. I don't know what kind of explosive that was, but it was strong, whatever it was. As much as I hate to do this, I have to leave empty-handed. There's no way I can break up this brawl by myself. That's it. I'm out of here."

At this point, all the members of the Destroyers and Wildfires were caught up in intense fights except for Saito. The woman Foxy had thrown the earring at had lunged at her after the explosion, and the two women were battling each other furiously.

"Foxy! We've gotta go! This old shack's gonna be dust in a few minutes!" Saito yelled.

"Go on. You don't wanna keep your precious Saito waiting for ya. Or worse, make him go on alone while you die here." the woman Foxy was fighting said tauntingly. She threw a punch at her enemy, purposely missing so that, as Foxy moved to dodge the blow, her chin collided with the knife strapped to the Wildfire's wrist. Foxy screamed, staggering backward.

"Foxy!" Saito cried, running to Foxy and throwing his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm alright. It's really just a scratch. I was surprised more than anything else." Foxy assured him, dabbing at the blood on her chin.

"Come on, Fox. We gotta go!" Saito urged, starting to run towards the exit with the slightly dazed Foxy in tow.

"But... what about your brothers... and Hajime..." Foxy whispered weakly, starting to choke on the fumes and looking back over her shoulder.

"Forget 'em. The idiots don't have enough brains to see they need to forget the Wildfires and get the hell outta here, there's nothing we can do. We need to save ourselves." Saito said grimly, his voice shaking.

The two lovers had nearly reached the exit, as had Faye. Suddenly, a bullet hit the already weakened wall just above the door, causing part of it to collapse. The fire from the wall quickly spread to the floorboards.

"Quick! Run for a window!" the woman with the short red hair screamed. One of the men from the Wildfires tossed a table through the window nearest him, creating an exit for himself and the woman. The two of them scrambled out, followed by the other female member of their gang. As the other two started to run off, she turned back to the building and, chuckling wickedly, lit a match and tossed it in.

"What are you doing? There are still two people of ours in there!" the man yelled, shaking the woman roughly.

"I know that. But they should be able to find another way out. If they aren't resourceful enough to do that, then maybe we're better off without them, anyway. Besides, two easily replaceable men are a small price to pay for taking out the Destroyers. And the woman Foxy was talking to is a bounty hunter. Just think, one less of them to worry about, too." the woman said with a bitter smile. Her two companions stared at her wordlessly for a second, then burst into a run, the man dragging her along.

Back inside, Saito was aiming his gun at Faye, telling her, "This is all your fault. If Foxy hadn't taken pity on you, we would've been outta this dump a long time ago. Well, even if I have to go, I think it'll be worth it to watch you die first."

"Idiot! In case you haven't realized, it's your beloved Foxy who caused this fire! And there's still time to escape, but we're all going to die if we don't hurry up and get out of here, no 'ifs' about it! I don't know about you two, but this is **not **exactly how I want to go!" Faye cried, fists by her sides. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the broken window. The fire hadn't spread to that part of the bar yet, but she knew there wasn't much time before it did. Faye glanced back at Saito, then bolted for the window. A gunshot rang out behind her. Looking over her shoulder, but never slowing down for a second, Faye fired back at Saito.

Not far away, Spike could see the clouds of smoke from the fire and hear the voices of the people nearby. Yelling. Confused. Frightened.

"What's going on over there?" he wondered. Then, groaning, he said to himself, "Whatever it is, I think I just found _Faye._" With that, Spike ran towards where all the chaos seemed to be coming from.

Back inside the bar, things were becoming even more chaotic. The alarm was still blaring. The fire was spreading. Between the Destroyers and two remaining Wildfires shooting at each other, and some of them firing at Faye as well, bullets were flying everywhere.

"Damn! I can't believe how crazy this has gotten! I have to get out while I can. It's already getting hard to see, not to mention breathe, and this whole building will go up in flames before long. I could really use some help about now, but, since that's not going to happen, I have to get out on my own." Faye thought, surveying the frantic situation and keeping her index finger carefully poised on the trigger of her gun. She dropped down to her knees, crouching behind a table that had been knocked on its side.

"Gotta fight the urge to run. Even though time's not exactly on my side right now, I've got a better shot of getting out of here alive if I stay low and don't go any faster than I have to." she reminded herself.

Outside, Spike was pushing his way through a crowd, yelling, "Move! I have to get through!"

"Where are you going?" someone shouted.

"Idiot! Don't you know you're heading straight towards a fire?" another person called.

"What is this guy's problem?" a woman questioned. Ignoring all the shouts and comments, Spike continued to fight his way through the crowd.

Back inside, Faye was starting to move away from the table she'd hidden behind, when a bullet struck it. In response, Faye fired three shots into the chaos.

At that very moment, large, muscular hands wrapped around Saito's neck. The hands of one of the Wildfire men who'd been left behind.

"Well, well. If it isn't Saito Akiyama. Martial artist, hacker, most infamous criminal in the whole dang universe. Be a pity for you to die in an ordinary old bar fire. Especially since I'm right here to do you in myself."

"Let him go!" Foxy screeched. She raised her gun again, but before she could use it, the other remaining Wildfire grabbed her from behind, causing her to drop the weapon.

"No!" Foxy yelled, struggling fiercely.

"What is wrong with these people? You'd think they would focus more on trying to get out of here with their own lives than ending each other's, but apparently their priorities are a little off. Luckily, mine still seem to be intact. They wanna stay here and fight until they all kill one another or burn up, fine. But I'm outta here!" Faye whispered, inching away from the table and staying as low as she could to avoid both the flying bullets and thick, heavy smoke.

"Let me go!" Foxy hollered, kicking her captor as hard as she could. The man reeled back, releasing Foxy and dropping her. She landed face down on the floor, but quickly recovered and started to pull herself up.

"Foxy... just... run... for it." Saito managed to utter, despite the fact that he was still being choked.

"No! I won't leave without you. Either we're both getting out of here, or no one is!" Foxy insisted. With that, she tossed her other earring to the floor, causing another explosion.

"Aaahhhh!" Faye screamed as the force of the blast sent her flying. She landed roughly against a wall, hitting her head as she slumped to the floor.

"Oww. This just isn't my day." she groaned, opening one eye and starting to get up unsteadily. As she did, a piece of fiery metal, a leg from one of the tables that had been flung through the air in the second explosion, hit her, cutting and burning her from the side of her right foot up to her knee. Crying out in pain, Faye fell to the floor again.

"I guess... it's Spike's turn to wonder what happened to me." she whispered with a short, bitter laugh, beginning to lose her grip on her gun. There was a loud crashing sound. Another window had just been broken - this one from the outside.

Just as Faye was about to pass out, she heard a familiar voice saying, "Faye! What the hell is going on? Why are you just laying there? Come on! Get up before you get us both killed!"

Feeling strong hands on her shoulders, Faye opened her eyes, and, even through her blurred vision, she could see it was Spike standing above her, shaking her.

"Spike? Great. I was just dreaming before. You did die six months ago, just like I thought. Now I'm dead, too, and we're in hell together." she mumbled, a faint smile on her lips.

"And you tell me _I'm_ not funny? Come on. Get up." Spike instructed, insulted by Faye's comment.

"Oww. I can't. Can't you see I'm hurt?" Faye moaned, wincing a bit and becoming more alert.

"Huh? Oh. You know, staying out of trouble is definitely not one of your talents. Guess I'll just have to carry you." Spike said, looking down and seeing the gash on Faye's leg. He slipped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving your ass... again. Some things just never change. Okay. We're leaving now." Spike replied, grabbing Faye's gun and making a run for the window above the bar, the one he'd smashed from the outside to get in. Faye grabbed Spike's shoulders and held onto him tightly as bullets flew by their heads.

"So, mind telling me why these people are shooting at us?" Spike asked, ducking, which wasn't easy with Faye in his arms.

"Oh, most of them aren't, really. They're rival gangs, and they're mostly just firing in any direction because each side is determined to take out as many members of the opposite side as possible. But a few of them probably are shooting at us deliberately because they know I'm a bounty hunter. And some might think I have some connection to one of the gangs because I was drinking with their leader, apparently. That's all." Faye explained in a sarcastically casual tone.

"Of course. It's so simple, I can't believe I didn't figure it out on my own." Spike mumbled even more sarcastically.

"Give me my gun." Faye instructed him suddenly.

"No way. We don't need to get any more involved in this thing than we already are. We just have to concentrate on getting out."

"Please. Like you wouldn't fire back at them if you could? Come on! My leg may be all cut up, but my hands are fine, which means I can still shoot! Now hand it over!"

"Okay. You win." Spike gave in, quickly tossing Faye's Glock to her. As he did, he smiled at her. Catching the weapon with one hand while still holding onto Spike with the other, she flashed him a smile in return.

Saito had gotten free, and was walking over to Foxy, saying, "Come on. Follow them. Let's get out of here."

"Saito, watch out!" Foxy cried. The man who'd grabbed Saito before and nearly strangled him was coming up behind him again, raising a large knife. Foxy picked her gun up from the floor and aimed it. At that same moment, another bullet flew past Spike and Faye, causing Faye to fire a shot back towards the chaos. In a split second, Foxy fired at the man coming up behind Saito. Fired at the same time, the two bullets whizzed past each other.

"Arraaahhh!" Saito screamed as a bullet struck his side and he fell to the floor.

"Noooo! Saito!" Foxy wailed, dropping to her knees beside her lover. She didn't realize it, but it was her own bullet that had wounded Saito. Her normally perfect aim thrown off by her own injuries and the thick smoke, she had missed the attacker completely. As she knelt alongside Saito, out of the corner of her eye, Foxy could see Spike and Faye escaping from the building, Spike helping Faye out the window.

"Her... The other bullet came from that direction. Faye shot Saito. I will make that bounty hunter woman pay for this." Foxy whispered bitterly.

She turned her attention to Saito, softly saying, "It's so quiet now. Like all the fighting has stopped. The alarm must have broken, too. Can you hear me, Saito? Can you?"

"Foxy... he answered, reaching for Foxy's hand and trying to sit up.

"Miss Foxy, we have to go! I hear sirens. The police will be here any minute!" Hajime warned, grabbing Foxy and pulling her to her feet. Aku was already running to the window.

"But, Saito..." Foxy began to protest.

"I'll be okay, Fox. And if not, I want you to go ahead without me, got it?" Saito said weakly, pulling himself to his feet with Hajime's help.

"Never." Foxy whispered in Saito's ear, kissing his cheek.

"We have to go. Aku's already left." Hajime warned, pushing the couple towards the window.

"And Yasue?" Saito asked.

"Dead. And at least two of the Wildfire thugs as well. The rest got away. That's why the fight ended." Hajime explained as he helped Foxy and Saito climb out the window. The sirens were getting louder. Closer. The three criminals started to run, but Saito, clutching the bleeding bullet wound in his side, quickly fell on his face.

"Saito!" Foxy cried, turning to run back to him.

"Don't be a fool, Foxy! Even if we go back for him, he's badly injured. He'll slow us down, and there's a chance we'll all be caught. Saito wouldn't want that, and I sure as hell don't, either. He's going to be arrested either way, but we still have a chance to avoid it. Now, move!" Hajime growled, grabbing Foxy and pulling her away.

"No! No way! I won't leave Saito!" Foxy screamed frantically. She tried to struggle, but was too worn out, and quickly fainted. Hajime tossed her over his shoulder and ran for it.

Spike and Faye, meanwhile, were away from all the commotion now. Despite the distance, they could still hear the sirens.

"How'd you know where I was?" Faye asked.

"I didn't. Not at first, anyway. I was looking for you at the Lucky Star. After all, we're supposed to be on stakeout there, remember? Though I did expect to find you forgetting your troubles by getting lost in a losing streak, not working. Anyway, I searched the whole building twice, but there was no sign of you. As I was getting back into my ship, I saw the smoke coming from that bar. Let's just put it this way. One minute, I didn't have a clue where you were. Then I saw chaos, and like magic, I knew exactly where you were." Spike explained, lowering Faye into the Swordfish.

"Yeah, you saw chaos **you **weren't causing, you mean." she grumbled, making a face.

"That's a fine way to thank me for rescuing you. Hmmm. Stay still." He pulled a large white cloth out of a box that had been under the seat, and proceeded to wrap it around the worst part of Faye's injury, pulling it tightly.

"Ow! You know, if you ever wanted to be a doctor, it's a good thing you changed your mind. You don't exactly have a gentle, healing touch." she complained.

"Stop whining. I didn't really hurt you, and you know it. Besides, if I didn't use a little force tying that, it wouldn't have cut off the blood flow. There. I think it's stopping. Getting that tourniquetted was the important thing for now. I'll be able to bandage your leg better once we're back on the Bebop. And I even promise I'll be more careful when I do." Spike told her, climbing into the Swordfish and beginning to fly away.

"Wait! My ship is still down there! Owww!" Faye exclaimed, sitting up quickly. The sudden movement pulled on her leg, and she fell back.

"Is it parked close to the bar?"

"No. Not really. I can't say exactly how far it is, but I remember parking the Red Tail and wandering around aimlessly for a while before I ever came across that place."

"In that case, you probably don't have to worry about it being damaged or impounded. It's not like you're in any condition to pilot it right now, anyway. Jet or I can come back and get the Red Tail later."

Faye scowled and replied, "I hate when you're right about anything. Lucky for me, it doesn't happen often." Then, her expression softened, and, lying down as best she could, she murmured, "Thank you. I feel so exhausted. And my leg is killing me. I really need to sleep now." Her eyes began to close.

"Sorry. That'll have to wait 'til later. I'm sure you'd cooperate much better if you were unconscious, but I have to keep you awake and alert for a while." Spike apologized.

"I'm not going to faint or anything. I won't be unconscious. I just want to go to sleep." Faye protested, sounding whinier than she'd intended.

"I don't think you're hurt too badly. But, just to be on the safe side, I have to observe you for a while. And it's best if you're awake. So I can tell if you have a concussion, or the cut on your leg is infected or anything. Now sit up." Spike explained.

"In other words, I have to sit here, suffer, and talk to you." Faye moaned, reluctantly pulling herself into a sitting position again.

"You got it. So, anything you'd like to talk about?" Spike asked.

When Faye didn't answer him, he said, "Well, there are definitely some things I need to discuss with you. After you left, Ed told me some pretty interesting stuff. She said that a few nights ago, you had a dream. About someone you believed you'd never see again. Someone you said you were in love with, but also hated, because he made you cry. Ed also told me she suspects I'm the person you were dreaming about."

"Ed has such a big mouth. I never told her the dream was about you. But... she's right. Now, don't you go getting all full of yourself over this. It was just one meaningless dream. Nothing more. You make me furious on a regular basis, but I don't hate you. Not really. But, even though I'll admit I'm glad you're alright, I don't love you, Spike. Not even close." Faye explained with a sigh and a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I see. Then what was the deal back on the ship?"

"I slapped you because I was mad at you for keeping so many secrets. That's all. Besides, it wasn't the first time I've ever hit you, and I doubt it will be the last. I didn't even do it that hard. It's not like I hurt you or anything."

"No, you didn't hurt me. To be honest, I'm not even surprised you hit me. With that temper of yours, if anything surprises me, it's that you didn't belt me sooner. No. I was actually referring to the kiss."

"Hmmphh. What can I say? Ed has been driving me crazy with these silly ideas she has about us all of a sudden. And I've been so confused about everything ever since you came back. I was so worked up, and I had all this stuff going through my head, and it just... happened. That's all." Faye lied.

"Oh. I figured it was something like that." Spike said, knowing Faye wasn't telling him the whole truth. Then, becoming more serious, he added, "Faye, if you really want to know the answers to all the questions you were asking, I will tell you someday. Not now, but someday. I promise."

"There has to be a catch." Faye said, rolling her eyes a little.

"Of course there is. You don't remember? When we were fighting before you took off, you said you'd tell me all about your past if you thought I'd care. Well, I do. I've always wanted to know more about what Earth was like before it was wrecked by the asteroids and the Gate accident. What better way to learn than from someone who was there, huh? Besides, if I know a little more about what you were like as a kid, maybe more of the things you do now will actually make sense to me. Though I don't count on it." Spike explained with a little laugh.

"So, you're saying someday, we'll have no secrets from each other?" Faye asked, managing a weak smile and staring out the window.

"Yep. It may take a long time, but that's exactly what I'm saying." Spike agreed.

"Spike, I... need you to do me a favor." Faye said suddenly.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"You've finally said something to me that made me happy. So, before you have a chance to say something stupid or obnoxious and ruin the moment as usual, do you think you could just... shut up now?" Faye asked, laughing weakly.

"Sorry. No can do. I have to keep you alert, remember? Like it or not, that means I have to keep talking to you." Spike apologized, smiling over his shoulder at Faye. She sighed, overdramatically, but smiled back at him.

"In that case, I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best."

Spike was about to reply, but before he could, Jet's face appeared on the communication screen, asking, "Spike, did you find Faye?"

"Take a look." Spike moved to the side a bit so Jet could see Faye behind him.

"What **happened **to you two? She's bleeding, and you both look like you just escaped from a burning building!" Jet exclaimed, seeing the long wound on Faye's leg and the singe marks on both she and Spike.

"Hey, how'd you know where we just came from?" Spike asked, smirking.

"What? Are you serious? Wait, don't answer that. For a second, I forgot who I was talking to. With the two of you, I believe anything. So, are you alright?" Jet asked, looking surprised at first, then shaking his head as he remembered who he was dealing with.

"Are we alright? Didn't you just notice that I'm bleeding, Jet?" Faye asked sarcastically, fishing around for her lighter in her jacket. She had a cigarette between her lips, and was giving Jet a dirty look.

Forcing back a laugh, Spike told Jet, "I'm alright. And, as you can tell by her attitude, Faye will be fine in no time."

"Well, good. While you two have been getting into trouble and escaping from fires, I managed to round up some punks that had plans to rob the Lucky Star casino."

"How many?" Spike asked.

"Six, but with the noise they made, you'd think there were at least a few dozen. You know the type. Small time losers with delusions of grandeur who don't have a prayer of making it in the big time. Just big ideas and bigger mouths."

"Sounds like you've had a rough day." Spike commented.

"Yeah, you could say that. But it doesn't seem like you guys have exactly been on a picnic, either. Which reminds me, now that we have a little money again, Ed and I have to go shopping. Are you going to meet up with us first?" Jet replied.

"Yeah. I have to get Faye bandaged up better than this, and I can't do that until I get her back home. So, where are you?" Spike said.

"Still at the police station. Just about to leave."

"Good. See you in a few minutes, then." Spike clicked off the comm. unit, then turned to Faye, who was still unsuccessfully searching for her lighter.

"Damn! Must have lost it somewhere." she muttered with an angry sigh, starting to tuck the cigarette back into the pack.

"Here. You've had a hard day." Spike said, tossing his lighter to Faye.

Catching it easily and looking a little surprised, she said, "First you come rescue me, now this? You must really want my eternal gratitude, Spike." Turning her head so Spike couldn't see her smile, she lit her cigarette and tossed the lighter back to him.

"Yeah. I guess I must."

Now, we come to a few hours later, back on the Bebop. Spike and Faye were at opposite ends of the couch. Faye was sound asleep, and Spike was watching the news.

A male reporter on the screen was saying, "The opening -excuse me, reopening- of the Lucky Star Casino went very smoothly, in other news. This casino was infamous for its bad luck with robbers in the past, but, if its first night back in business is any indication, it's going to be a much smoother ride this time around. However, only two streets away, the owners of a small bar and restaurant suffered some misfortune tonight, when their business went up in flames. The fire was started by a member of two feuding gangs who were having a fight inside the establishment. Apparently, this shootout was between the Destroyers and the Wildfires, all of whom are wanted throughout the universe. Authorities have confirmed that three people were found dead inside the building. They have not yet been positively identified, but are believed to be two members of the Wildfires, and one member of the Destroyers. Outside, only about ten feet from the tavern, police arrested Saito Akiyama, the notorious ringleader of the Destroyers, who had suffered a gunshot wound in the frenzy. He is in stable condition, and is expected to recover completely. His brother, Yasue Akiyama, is believed to be among the three dead. The third Akiyama brother, Aku, as well as the other two Destroyers, Hajime Yukino and the mysterious woman known as Foxy, fled the scene and escaped capture, as did the three surviving Wildfires. No trial date has been set for Saito Akiyama so far. In other news..."

Uninterested in the rest, Spike clicked off the TV, whispering, "The Destroyers and the Wildfires were the two gangs? I'll say one thing for Faye. When she falls in with the wrong crowd, she goes for the best of the worst!" He turned his head to look at Faye, and slowly moved closer to her.

"She looks really sweet and peaceful when she's asleep. I never noticed that before. Now, if she could just be a little more like this when she's awake..." he thought, looking down at Faye, who was still sleeping soundly. With the back of his right hand, Spike gently touched Faye's forehead, then each side of her face.

As his hand brushed her left ear, Faye stirred in her sleep, mumbling, "No secrets from each other. That sounds really beautiful. Thanks, Spike."

Then, she yawned, and, struggling to open her eyes, asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Checking to see if you have a fever. That's all. By the way, you don't. You know, you were really lucky." Spike replied.

"Yeah, well, I don't feel too lucky right now. Owwww." Faye complained, gritting her teeth as she sat up straight and woke up a little more. The entire gash on her right leg was now completely covered in tight, clean white bandages.

"I know it hurts. That bump on your head is probably kind of sore too, right?"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me. My leg hurts so much, I'd almost completely forgotten about this." Faye grumbled, rubbing the side of her head.

"Sorry. Hey, give yourself a few days. That little bump should be gone, and I'm sure your leg will feel better by then, too." Spike replied, rubbing Faye's shoulder sympathetically.

Realizing she was starting to stare at him, Spike got up, saying, "Stay there. I'll get you something." He left the room, returned a moment later, and handed Faye a plate full of food.

"I made sure to save this for you earlier. I'm sorry it's cold, but you were sleeping so soundly when the rest of us ate, I didn't want to wake you, and..." Spike began to explain, sitting beside Faye again. He stopped short when he realized Faye had already gobbled down about half of her food.

"Sorry. Hey, don't you laugh at me! I was just too exhausted before to realize how hungry I was. Between fighting with you and nearly getting killed, this is the first chance I've had to eat all day!" she snapped, seeing the amused look on Spike's face.

"More signs you're going to heal nicely. Your appetite is as big as usual, and your temper is as short as ever. Like I said before, I realize you're in pain right now, but your injuries really aren't serious. Only a small part of the cut on your leg deep, and the piece of metal that cut you didn't leave behind any fragments. That along with the fact that your body temperature is perfectly normal tells me the wound isn't infected. The burns around it look worse than they are, too. And the reason I kept you awake for three hours before was because I had to make sure you didn't have a concussion. But you were perfectly lucid. You never got dizzy or anything, and you gave me hell when I tried to take care of you. You even yelled at Ed when she thought you had a cast and wanted to know if she could sign it. In other words, that bump on your head may have given you a nasty headache, but nothing more." Spike commented, watching Faye eat.

"So, I just feel like I'm falling apart, but I'm really not, huh?" Faye asked after gulping down the last of her food.

"That pretty much sums it up, alright."

Putting her plate down, Faye said, "You keep thinking of all these reasons I'm not hurt as badly as I think. Well, besides the fact that you aren't particularly gentle, I thought of another reason you should never become a doctor."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Spike inquired.

"Your bedside manner with your patient absolutely stinks." Faye scoffed, shaking her head and smiling a little in spite of herself.

"Now there's something I like to see." Spike commented, noticing Faye's smile.

"What? Me being the one to come home all banged up instead of _you_ for a change?" Faye asked, leaning back a bit.

"Hmmm. Now that you mention it..." Spike teased.

Then, seeing the dirty look Faye was giving him, he explained, "Actually, I meant your smile. The mood you've been in the past few days, I was beginning to think I'd never see it again. You smiled at me a few times earlier, but I'm not sure if it counts. With everything that was going on, you may not have realized what you were doing. You know, it would really be a shame if you never smiled for me again. In case no one's ever told you before, you are kind of cute when you smile."

"I'm cute when I smile, huh? You know, it is **your** fault I've been in such a bad mood and haven't smiled much these past few days." Faye told Spike, staring at him, startled by what he'd said.

When he didn't reply, Faye closed her eyes almost completely, looked down at the floor and said, "I've been so mad because the rest of you were acting like nothing has changed, and nothing happened. But now I realize.. that's what I want, too. A part of me will always know there's something you're hiding, something that happened after you left. But I don't want to dwell on that. I'll make myself crazy if I do. Jet told me I should just let the past go, but I couldn't. I had to get some answers. However, now that you've promised to answer all my questions someday, I feel better. I think that now, I can let it go. For a while, anyway. So, Spike, do you think things can just... be normal between us again?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll keep my promise. Just remember, you have to hold up your end of the bargain, too. There are a few secrets of yours I'd like to know, after all. As for things getting back to normal between us... Take a look, Faye. I don't know about you, but this seems pretty normal to me." Spike answered.

Faye thought about it briefly, then, carefully moving a bit closer to Spike, told him, "You've been right too many times today."

After a few seconds of silence, Faye, sounding very serious, said, "There's just one question I need to have the answer to right now."

"Alright. One question. Ask away." Spike agreed, sounding a bit reluctant.

"You said I'm cute when I smile, but, well... Oh, I feel stupid asking you this, but I'm going to, anyway. Spike, do you think I'm pretty?" Faye asked. She stared at Spike intently, waiting for him to answer. Spike, who hadn't seen that question coming, stared at Faye, looking her over, thinking of an answer.

"Come on! It's not a hard question. Yes or no. Come on! Don't just stare at me like that all night!" Faye yelled, getting impatient.

"Alright. Let me put it this way. The way you _look_ is definitely not the reason you don't have a boyfriend." Spike finally told Faye, giving her a little smirk.

Faye started to smile, then, realizing she'd been given a compliment mixed with an insult, scowled and yelled, "You absolute jerk!" She punched Spike's shoulder, but in more of a playful than angry way. Spike laughed.

Pulling away, Faye said, "You actually answered two questions just now."

"Really? What was the other one?" Spike asked, holding up his hands to shield himself in case Faye decided to hit him again.

"All day, I've been asking myself why I put up with you at all. I couldn't come up with anything. But now I know. It's a good thing you like my smile so much, Spike. Because, whenever you aren't making me furious, and I'm not being foolish enough to cry over stupid things you do, you do make me smile sometimes." Faye explained. For a second, she leaned towards Spike, resting her head on his left shoulder. She then pulled away, looked up at Spike, and simply smiled at him. He smiled back at her, and neither of them said another word.

Ed, who was on the stairs and had been watching the whole time, whispered, "Aww. How sweet. Goodnight, Faye-Faye. Goodnight, Spike. Sweet dreams." Smiling, she tiptoed up the stairs, not wanting to disturb the other two.

**THE END**

_**SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY**_


End file.
